Successfully treating a pork chop could be first step in revolution for radiotherapy

This week a number of promising developments in the field of radiotherapy treatment for cancer have been presented at the ESTRO conference in Maastricht. The most notable development could see real time imaging of cancer tumours during treatment that would represent a quantum leap in cancer therapy.

Radiotherapy represents the most cost effective treatment in the fight against cancer. It is used to treat 40 percent of cancer cases, often in combination with surgery and chemotherapy. In recent years radiation treatment, which involves using radiation to kill cancer cells, has evolved into an increasingly targeted and individualized treatment method. A number of new research developments point to a promising future for radiotherapy treatment, none more so than some research involving a pork chop.

Researchers from UMC Utrecht in the Netherlands have built a first of a kind prototype combining an MRI scanner and a linear accelerator that delivers the dose of radiation to the cancerous cells. So far the technique has only been tried on a pork chop, next year the system should be ready for the first patient trials and if successful, the machine could be widely available to treat cancer patients within a few years.

“To precisely hit the tumour while sparing the healthy surrounding tissue it is necessary to have high quality, real-time images of the tumour during radiation,” said Bas Raaymakers from UMC Utrecht.

“Our first of a kind prototype could open an entire new field of research and opening up a whole new spectrum of radiotherapy indications. This will be particularly effective in treating unpredictable, fast moving tumours in hard to reach areas with more intense radiation.”

The prototype allows the beam of radiation to remain focused on the tumour area throughout the treatment by offering simultaneous radiation and high quality imaging, enabling a higher dose to be delivered. This intelligence also reduces the damage to surrounding healthy tissue and therefore improve the quality of life of cancer patients by reducing side effects and boost their chances of survival.

“Cancer is the second biggest killer in Europe and has a huge impact on quality of life,” said Professor Dirk Verellen, chair ESTRO scientific committee. “Cancer survival rates have improved dramatically from around 50 percent in the 1950s to around 80 percent today. For certain cancers however, there is still a high mortality rate. For example, being able to view lung tumours during treatment and keeping the beam on the tumour at all times will allow treatment to be much more focused.

In the last decade we have witnessed many new developments in Image Guidance Radiation Therapy allowing us to account for movements due to respiration. However, we can still do more to individualise the treatment by using state of the art imaging, such as the MRI developments from Utrecht.”

Source: ESTRO