Munich cancer clinic doubles proton therapy capacity
11 February 2010
The Rinecker Proton Therapy Center (RPTC) in Munich has
doubled its capacity with the successful commissioning of a second
treatment room that will enable it to deliver intensity modulated proton
therapy using pencil-beam scanning technology from Varian Medical
Systems.
“The commissioning of our second treatment gantry will enable us to
double our capacity and we are very pleased to be able to offer advanced
proton therapy to twice as many patients,” says Dr Joerg Hauffe, chief
executive officer of ProHealth, the centre's operating company. “We can
now make more efficient use of this life-saving technology by switching
the proton beam between rooms so we can treat in one room while we’re
setting up a patient for treatment in the other room. Before the year is
out, we expect to commission three more treatment rooms.”
When completed, the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center will be a
state-of-the-art proton facility with four gantry rooms and one
fixed-beam room, the latter of which will specialize in treating
delicate tumours such as small head, neck and eye cancers and tumours
close to the spinal cord. The two additional gantry rooms are due to be
ready for clinical treatment during 2010.
Unlike conventional X-ray based radiotherapy that utilizes photons
and electrons, particle therapy involves delivering heavier proton
particles to destroy tumours. Proton therapy enables oncologists to
improve dose control and limit exposure to healthy tissue while treating
cancer and other indications. As a result, proton technology is moving
from research facilities into active cancer treatment clinics such as
RPTC.
Dr Hauffe said RPTC benefits from being able to offer Varian’s
pencil-beam spot scanning delivery method, which offers distinct
performance advantages for more precise dose distribution than is
possible with other proton delivery systems.
“We believe pencil-beam scanning is the best approach for patients
because you can more easily and effectively shape the dose distribution
as necessary and lessen exposure to critical organs such as the spinal
cord, which is difficult to achieve using the standard scattering proton
technique employed by most other proton centres,” said Dr Hauffe.
“Studies show that we are lowering exposure to healthy tissue and
making hypo-fractionation more of a reality in radiotherapy treatments,”
added Dr Hauffe. Hypo-fractionation involves delivering the prescribed
dose in fewer treatment sessions, or fractions, thus reducing the number
of times patients have to come for treatment.
More than 80 treatment courses have been concluded at RPTC and
several more patients are currently undergoing treatment. The patients
have come from Germany and 18 other countries, including Canada,
Argentina, the UK and Switzerland. Among these patients have been
several children, as proton therapy’s ability to limit exposure to
healthy tissue is particularly valuable in paediatric treatments.
Lester Boeh, head of Varian’s Emerging Businesses, said, “The
Rinecker Proton Therapy Center is delivering the most advanced particle
treatments available and Varian is proud to be part of this
ground-breaking venture.”