Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy for Rectal Carcinoma Patient

A Belgium hospital is among the first hospitals in the world to pioneer radiotherapy treatments using arc therapy, performing its first treatment using fast and efficient application. A 56-year-old male rectal carcinoma patient was treated in just 75 seconds, over four times faster than possible using traditional fixed-beam treatments.

The technology, RapidArc radiotherapy, was administered at Ghent University Hospital (Ghent, Belgium), and developed by Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA, USA). "This treatment would have taken more than five minutes using conventional intensity-modulated radiotherapy, and such time-savings are very important both for the well-being of the patient and the efficiency of the hospital,” said Prof. Marc van Eijkeren, head of Ghent University Hospital's department of radiation oncology. "We were able to achieve an increase in dose to the tumor while using far fewer monitor units of radiation to achieve this. Indeed, there was threefold reduction in monitor units used, which is helpful in tissue sparing and increasing patient comfort. We are a busy university hospital and we are under constant strain to deliver advanced IMRT [intensity-modulated radiation therapy] treatments within our standard 15 minutes treatments slots. With RapidArc, that will no longer be a problem as we will be able to offer advanced conformal treatments to more patients while reducing our treatment slot times.”

Prof. van Eijkeren reported that the patient's treatment involved treating the rectum, pelvis, and lymph nodes in a single arc--or revolution--of the Clinac iX medical linear accelerator. All such rectal treatments will now be carried out using the RapidArc technique, and the team at Ghent plans to begin using RapidArc for other cancers in the pelvic region.

Physicist Leen Paelinck reported that the Eclipse treatment planning software was fast and simple to use, reducing the planning time substantially. "The planning process involves contouring, optimization, calculation, and evaluation, and Eclipse enables us to undertake this process more quickly than was previously possible,” said Leen Paelinck.

Prof. van Eijkeren noted that his hospital's long history with advanced techniques such as arc therapy comes from its goal of gaining greater tumor control and fewer side effects. Ghent University Hospital serves more than 1.5 million people in the northern regions of Belgium. "Ghent University Hospital is unique in its long experience in volumetric intensity-modulated arc treatments and its adoption of RapidArc as the best solution for this patient and others is a significant step forward,” stated Vincent Ronfle, Varian's regional sales manager. "Such milestones are helpful in understanding the present and future applications of this technology in our efforts to improve treatments for patients.”

RapidArc delivers a volumetric intensity-modulated radiation therapy treatment in a single or multiple arcs of the treatment machine around the patient and makes it possible to provide advanced image-guided IMRT two to eight times faster than is possible with conventional IMRT. Since its introduction last year, more than 270 RapidArc systems have been installed in hospitals globally.

Related Links:
Ghent University Hospital
Varian Medical Systems