From the March 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

FLASH therapies require sufficient dose coverage for large tumor volumes, which often are hundreds of cubic centimeters. Combined with the complexity of target shapes and constraints for surrounding organs at risk, this makes single-field FLASH treatments unlikely to provide acceptable dosimetric distribution relative to conventional treatment plans. To address this, Mevion and RaySearch have developed a "merged-field" technique that basically stitches together smaller fields to allow for FLASH doses to be delivered at a rate where the large volume is covered while surrounding organs are spared.

"Our collaboration with RayStation will build upon this technique to develop the temporal and spatial modeling necessary to facilitate optimal target conformality and normal tissue sparing," Daniel Owen, R&D clinical engineer at Mevion, told HCB News.


The approach starts out by applying adjacent intensity-modulated small volumes at FLASH dose rates separately and then combining the individual small volumes to create a single large volume that can apply treatment effectively, while still sparing normal tissue. It is expected to combine both IMPT and FLASH into one delivery system, with each volume applied at FLASH dose rates that complement Mevion’s system.

Proton therapy trial to advance esophageal cancer treatment
Spread across Europe, 19 industry and academic partners have launched a large-scale, clinical trial aimed at extending the reach of proton therapy and tailoring patient selection to those who are likely to benefit from it the most.

The randomized controlled ProtectTrial will oversee the use of proton therapy on approximately 400 patients with esophageal cancer, with the aim of improving access to PT for such patients. At the same time, researchers involved will evaluate selection criteria and create shared reimbursement guidelines that will better ensure proton therapy is offered to patients upon whom it can have the most significant impact across cancer indications.

“This significant project has the potential to produce high-quality clinical data on the benefits of proton therapy. As our understanding of proton therapy’s efficacy grows, we believe this collaboration will help to define guidelines and selection criteria to make proton therapy more accessible to the patients who could benefit,” said Olivier Legrain, chief executive officer of IBA, in an August statement.

The trial is the first European particle research project to consist of both public and private members. Included are 12 proton therapy centers, 17 academic partners, two leading industry partners and more than 30 clinical trial sites across eight countries. The trial will be carried out at Aarhus University in Denmark and headed by professor Cai Grau.

March 2022 Magazine

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