Abstract TH-CD-202-12: “Online inter-beam replanning based on real-time dose reconstruction”; Cornelis P. Kamerling, post doctoral training fellow in the Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging at the Institute for Cancer Research in London. August 4, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. This presentation discussed the development and implementation of an online replanning workflow used to create and deliver conventional and reduced margin treatment plans for a patient with prostate cancer. Results demonstrated that replanning is technically feasible and has the potential for margin reduction. The data also suggest that replanning can be used to reduce radiation exposure to nearby organs.

“Establishing online treatment replanning is essential to reduce margins and optimize care for cancer patients,” said Dr. Li. “Image speed and quality are critical to effective replanning, and both require the high-field MR imaging that can be achieved with MR-linac. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that MR-linac supports margin reductions in the prostate and pancreas. Additional forthcoming research from the MR-linac consortium will provide further clinical validation, paving the way to integrate this transformative technology into the treatment paradigms for prostate, pancreatic and a variety of other cancers.”


An additional 24 abstracts were presented during the conference, comprising 15 oral presentations and nine poster presentations. Of these, several describe novel tools, devices and algorithms for assessing and adjusting dose delivery for the MR-linac platform. Findings from these studies indicate that a variety of dosimeters function effectively in the presence of a magnetic field, and that appropriate computer algorithms can be used to adapt additional dosimeters for use with MR-linac. The availability of multiple dosimetry approaches is important for ensuring development of the MR-linac technology in a manner that allows optimized and accurate radiotherapy treatment.

“MR-linac has the potential to fundamentally transform radiotherapy by enabling radiation oncologists to see the treatment target in real time, and to rapidly adjust dosing in response to diagnostic quality MR images,” says Kevin Brown, Elekta’s Global Vice President of Scientific Research. “The data presented at this conference support the use of online adaptive workflow to compensate for intra-session motion, increasing the likelihood that radiation dosing is delivered as planned. We believe that MR-linac is a potentially transformative technology and are encouraged by the significant progress of our consortium researchers and widespread interest in the radiation oncology community.”

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