ASTRO’s Top Six Trends in Radiation Therapy

 

At this year’s American Society for Radiation Oncology’s annual meeting, the following radiation therapy technology trends were labeled as the most up-and-coming. 

Flash Therapy
Labeled a “revolutionary” way to treat cancer, flash therapy has been under the radar for the past few years. Rather than giving fractions of radiation to patients over days or weeks at a time, a full dose is delivered swiftly. Healthy tissues react differently to high doses of radiation as opposed to smaller doses over time; the tissues recover well, and cancer cells are rapidly destroyed. This therapy can potentially revolutionize radiation therapy, making patient treatment slots more available. 

Image-Guided Radiotherapy Systems
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) guided linear accelerators (linac) systems gained popularity through the past few years thanks to their ability to allow real-time imaging during radiation therapy. With this process, patients are more aligned with the therapy through changes in tissue movement, breathing, food intake, bowel gas, etc. Though the results are more accurate and safer, they take longer to perform, and are being reserved for certain types of cancers. 

Proton: A Mainstream Treatment
Becoming more widely available, this therapy is highly accurate and performs better than the best photon therapy systems. Randomized trials will soon compare proton therapy versus photon therapy in prostate, lung, and breast cancer. Proton therapy interacts with cell biology differently than photon beam therapy. Proton flash therapy also makes proton systems more economically viable, since many more patients can be treated at once. 

PSMA PET For Prostate Cancer
Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging for prostate cancer can monumentally improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. In male patients with prostate cancer, the drug for PET nuclear imaging of PSMA-positive lesions was approved by the FDA. 

Synthetic CT from MRI Is Cost-Effective for Radiotherapy
New software can convert MRI databases into synthetic CT image datasets to assist in treatment plans. Since separate CT scans are not needed, costs can be reduced and care can be sped up. MRI is preferred for diagnosis compared to CT, as it can help provide a better understanding of the disease extent. 

AI (Artificial Intelligence) in Radiotherapy
AI is being used mainly as a time saver, as it speeds up routine tasks, automates treatment plans, offers alternative options, and more. AI can target tumors, identify tissues to avoid using radiation on, and provide information to suggest better treatment decisions. 

Acceletronics is an industry leader in delivering the best equipment performance and service reliability from CT Scanners and Linear Accelerators across all major brands and models. Call 610-524-3300 or visit our website: https://www.acceletronics.com.

 

Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com. 

Novel ‘Cure’ For Cancer Treatment

 

A new report published in Nature titled “Decade-long leukemia remissions with persistence of CD4+ CAR T cells” highlights a novel treatment called CAR T, which is being hailed as a “cure” for cancer by Dr. Carl June, the principal investigator for the trial at the University of Pennsylvania.

June said, “Now we can finally say the word ‘cure’ with CAR T cells.” In 2010, when the trial began, the idea for this sort of therapy “was way out there,” he added.

June and his colleagues reported that the CAR T therapy wiped out cancer in two out of the three initial early-trial patients, all of who had chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Though the cancer disappeared, the CAR T cells stayed circulating through patients’ bloodstreams, almost guarding the body against future attacks.

In CAR T therapy, T cells (white blood cells that fight viruses) are removed from a patient’s blood and re-introduced after being genetically engineered to fight cancer. Patients’ T cells are taught to recognize and destroy B cells, a key player in cancer formation throughout the body. Without B cells – or cancer – patients require regularly-scheduled infusions of immunoglobulin infusions, which replenish antibodies.

Many people with blood cancer have benefitted from CAR T therapy, which has proved especially effective against acute leukemia. Roughly a third of patients who underwent the CAR T therapy have gone into remission, but many patients later relapse.

Dr. John F. DiPersio, chief of the division of oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, said, “The question is not only why some patients relapse or are resistant to therapy but why are some patients cured?”

He continued, “Oncologists don’t use words like ‘cure’ lightly or easily or, frankly, very often,” he said. “I guarantee that it’s not being used lightly. The patients we treated had far advanced disease,” he noted, adding, “the biggest disappointment is that it doesn’t work all the time.”

Acceletronics is an industry leader in delivering the best equipment performance and service reliability from CT Scanners and Linear Accelerators across all major brands and models. Call 610-524-3300 or visit our website: https://www.acceletronics.com.

 

Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com. 

 

Using Medical Radiation Detectors

 

By 2030, the global medical radiation detection market is projected to reach $2,558.1 million; in 2020, the market was valued at $1,173 million, according to a new report from Researchandmarkets.com.

A variety of fatal illnesses can result when people are exposed to radiation for an extended period. Radiation detectors are medical equipment solutions that can detect the presence of radiation. Handheld Survey Meter (HSM), Personal Radiation Detector (PRD), Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM), and Radiation Isotope Identification Device are some of the options available to detect radioactive materials and ionizing radiation.

Dosimeters, radiation-detecting equipment, can detect Gamma rays, which are the most dangerous. Cancer rates have been rising, accelerating the need for medical radiation detecting equipment. An increase in diagnostic imaging facilities requiring medical radiation detectors has helped avoid unnecessary exposure.

Encouraging awareness in radiation-prone settings has been crucial when it comes to safety. In the upcoming years, the increased potential for medical radiation detection is expected to expand in emerging markets.

There are different branches of the global medical radiation detection market, including detection type, product, end-user, and region. Each category contains its sub-categories as well. All of these segments are what drive market growth.

Acceletronics is an industry leader in delivering the best equipment performance and service reliability from CT Scanners and Linear Accelerators across all major brands and models. Call 610-524-3300 or visit our website: https://www.acceletronics.com.

 

Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com.

 

Novel AI Might Predict Heart Attacks

 

New research published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine shows how physicians can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict heart attacks. The study included 293 participants with coronary artery disease; 22 people experienced a myocardial event during the 53-month follow-up period.

When used in combination with F-sodium fluoride (F-NaF) and quantitative coronary plaque analysis (via CT angiography) along with clinical findings, physicians can easily predict the risk of myocardial infractions.

Predicting heart attacks has been challenging in everyday clinical practice and is typically based on cardiovascular risk factors. Patients with coronary artery disease can have underlying conditions despite high scores.

Pitor J. Slomka, Ph.D., FACC, FASNC, FCCPM, director of Innovation in Imaging at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said, “Recently, advanced imaging techniques have demonstrated considerable promise in determining which coronary artery disease patients are most at risk for a heart attack. These techniques include 18F-sodium fluoride (18F-NaF) PET, which assesses disease activity in the coronary arteries, and CT angiography, which provides a quantitative plaque analysis. Our goal in the study was to investigate whether the information provided by 18F-NaF PET and CT angiography is complementary and could improve prediction of heart attacks with the use of artificial intelligence techniques.”

The AI-assisted process exhibited a significant advancement in predicting heart attacks rather than employing clinical data alone.

Slomka said, “F-NaF PET combined with anatomical imaging provided by CT angiography has the potential to enable precision medicine by guiding the use of advanced therapeutic interventions. Our study supports the use of artificial intelligence methods for integrating multimodality imaging and clinical data for robust prediction of heart attacks.”

Acceletronics is an industry leader in delivering the best equipment performance and service reliability from CT Scanners and Linear Accelerators across all major brands and models. Call 610-524-3300 or visit our website: https://www.acceletronics.com.

 

Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com.