P-Cure announced the completion of the 7-week Proton Therapy course delivered in clinical cooperation with Hadassah Medical Center to the first Israeli patient using its compact FDA-cleared Adaptive Proton Therapy Solution, installed within the size of a standard Linac vault. The 85-year-old patient, Rina, suffering from a recurrent tumor at the base of her tongue, had previously received conventional radiation therapy.

Proton therapy, which targets tumors with virtually no side effects, appeared to be the only solution in this case to irradiate the tumor while sparing damage to healthy tissues and avoiding further suffering.
Analysis of the CT dataset acquired for planning, before the treatment, revealed a large tumor. To cover its entire volume, two plans were prepared (with two isocenters) and four irradiation directions (fields) were selected. The total treatment dose was spilt over 35 days and delivered during 5 consecutive days on a weekly basis.


The treatment was conducted in a seated position enabling the patient to stay calm during the treatment. “I was able to breathe normally and felt very comfortable by seeing what was going on around me,†said Rina, adding that in comparison to her previous experience undergoing conventional radiation therapy, she “did not expect that it would be so easy to breathe and swallow whilst being treated†. Having endured conventional radiation therapy six years ago, Rina remembers all the difficulties of receiving treatment in a supine position, particularly due to the lack of comfort and difficulties with breathing and swallowing.

It was the first time that Proton Therapy treatment was delivered in a seated position to a patient with such a tumor. “We are thrilled to demonstrate the clinical benefits of Proton Therapy to patients having head and neck malignancies, emphasizing the importance of the patient’s comfort and quality of life as significant contributing factors to the positive clinical outcomes,†said Prof. Aron Popovtzer, the Head of Sharett Institute of Oncology at the Hadassah Medical Center.

The treatment was delivered utilizing a unique feature of the P-Cure Proton Therapy System which enables diagnostic quality imaging capable of tracking changes occurring in a patient’s body during the treatment, especially in the tumor shape and location, as well as the position of healthy tissues around the tumor site. As such, this system's versatility enables adjustment of the treatment plan in accordance with the new changing anatomy. This approach, called adaptive therapy, ensures that the treatment dose always covers the tumor without dangerous radiation to the healthy tissue and organs.

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