"These data suggest that MRIdian-guided adaptive radiotherapy may help survival while greatly reducing toxicity rates," said Scott Drake, President and Chief Executive Officer of ViewRay. "We are pleased to support the prospective study of this promising finding and thank the multi-institutional teams for their work to improve patient care and outcomes."


About the Publication

Published April 1, 2019, in Cancer Medicine, titled: "Using adaptive magnetic resonance image‐guided radiation therapy for treatment of inoperable pancreatic cancer", and authored by Soumon Rudra, Naomi Jiang, Stephen A. Rosenberg, Jeffrey R. Olsen, Michael C. Roach, Leping Wan, Lorraine Portelance, Eric A. Mellon, Anna Bruynzeel, Frank Lagerwaard, Michael F. Bassetti, Parag J. Parikh, and Percy P. Lee.

According to the publication, "The study was a multi‐institutional, retrospective, cohort study based on data from 5 institutions. Eligible patients had biopsy‐proven, inoperable, pancreatic cancer treated with MRgRT from 2014 through 2016. All patients were evaluated with diagnostic computed tomography (CT) imaging or MRI. Patients deemed medically inoperable were included as well. The study excluded patients with prior pancreas‐directed RT, pancreatic surgery or any clinical‐radiographic evidence of distant metastasis prior to initiation of RT. Research conformed to the Helsinki Declaration and satisfied retrospective review requirements for each institution."


About the SMART Trial
The SMART trial is designed to enroll 133 participants with borderline resectable or inoperable locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Patients must be 18 years and older and have documented non-metastatic disease after three months of systemic therapy. Radiation therapy will be delivered using ViewRay's MRIdian at a prescribed dose of 50 Gray (Gy) in 5 fractions. Each participant will be aligned in the treatment system with MRI image-guidance. On-table adaptive re-planning will be used when clinically indicated. In all patients, real-time MRI imaging will be used throughout treatment delivery to monitor the target location and control the radiation beam as necessary. The primary outcome measure of the study is grade 3 or higher gastrointestinal toxicity in the first 90 days after treatment. Secondary measures include overall survival at two years, distant progression-free survival at six months and changes in patient reported quality of life (pre-treatment to 12 months post-treatment and for more extended periods up to five years).

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