RadPro 365 News-Zone for February 2019

Welcome to the new-look RadPro 365 Live monthly news-zone for 2019 incorporating the previous e-Lectron e-news and the latest monthly news from our partner companies and organisations in Radiotherapy

At the last IntraOp Mobetron Global User Meeting in Mannheim, Germany Cristina Ferrone, MD, Surgical Director of the Liver Program at Mass General Hospital presented on the “New Era of Locally Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma” based on MGH experience leveraging folfirnox and individualized neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery + electron beam IORT in the treatment of locally advanced and borderline PDAC patients.

Dr Ferrone highlighted recent results on a prospective series of 48 borderline resectable patients which was published in JAMA Oncology.

Median Progression Free Survival (PFS) was reported at 37.7 months for all patients – and notably for those patients able to undergo resection + IORT (32/48 – 67%) the Progression Free Survival (PFS) was reported at 48.6 months.

A similar study for locally advanced patients is expected to publish shortly.

These results further reinforce the results that:

• Armed with IORT, significantly more patients can benefit from localized treatment with an opportunity for R0 resection
• With recent improvements in systemic therapy, the importance of local control has increased for this patient population.
• Intensive neoadjuvant therapy along with aggressive surgical exploration, appears to result in a significant survival benefit for these patients
• There are no reported increases of toxicity or morbidity in patients treated with IORT and the total procedure adds around 30 minutes (skin to skin) to the surgical procedure

Can we measure the impact of protons with a fish tank, alcohol, paper and hot water bottle? Brian Cox provides some answers!  

Last month we looked at some of the ethereal qualities of protons in that they may be eternal and so this month we ask if we can detect protons from other Solar systems and how they might interact with our DNA.
Some more interesting Proton facts to consider when treating your patients

Watch the video click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWxfliNAI3U

Some important PBT updates

How NHS investment in proton beam therapy is coming to fruition 

The link below is an article recently published by the BMJ and reports on the hopes and expectations of doctors, policy makers, and patients with regards to PBT.

Read more: https://www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.l313

• The latest video on the Unity MRI Linac
• The latest video update on the Gamma Knife

• Hip & Pelvic Immobilzation Training Viideo 

• SunCHECK 2.0 providesflexible workflow automation for fully integrated and independent QA (click on play video)

Curated news items from partner companies, organisation and the press/media

What we’re reading from partner companies in radiotherapy:

Elekta

• Elekta's MOSAIQ Oncology Information System named Category Leader for Oncology in 2019 Best in KLAS: Software & Services report. Read more

• New study to learn from every cancer patient treated with magnetic resonance radiation therapy. Read more

• Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert Hospital begins patient treatments with Elekta Unity MR-linac. Read more

RaySearch 

• First patient treated with RayStation at India’s first proton center. Read more

• Significant RayStation orders from five UK cancer clinics. Read more

What we’re reading in the Press and International Media, some selected thought-provoking stories:

BBC Two ICONS - Winner

Alan Turing was voted the nation’s icon of the 20th century in BBC Two's Icons finale

Alan Turing is considered to be the father of modern computing and artificial intelligence. His concept of the Turing machine is still one of the most widely examined theories of computation.

We should consider his impact in the field of Radiotherapy as we treat our patients with ever more complex machines daily as without his foresight the world of cancer treatment would look very different today!
 

Chris Packham said: "Alan Turing’s genius brought Britain back from the brink during WWII. While he was punished for being different, his work celebrated diversity. Under the circumstances, that makes him truly iconic."

Cancer therapy rays that blast away heel pain which affects an estimated SIX MILLION Britons – a new indication for radiotharapy?
 

• Plantar fasciitis affects an estimated six million Britons causing major pain

• Eight out of ten sufferers can end up unable to stand or even walk due to pain

• Doctors use low-dose x-rays to target the painful area to reduce inflammation

• Medics believe the risk of developing cancer from the treatment is very low

It may not be a medical term than rolls off the tongue but for an estimated six million Britons plantar fasciitis is impossible to ignore. It’s the most common cause of heel pain, responsible for at least 80 per cent of cases and can leave sufferers unable to walk or even stand. But increasing numbers are now benefiting from a most unlikely treatment – radiotherapy, which is normally associated with blasting away tumour cells in cancer patients. Although the option is still not in widespread use, one pioneering NHS doctor is offering it to patients in much lower doses than is used to attack cancer.
Read more
 

Papua New Guinea Only Has One Radiation Machine. It Doesn't Work.
 

The country's only radiation machine has been out of service for more than two years.

Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment in which high doses of radiation are used to kill cancer cells and shrink tumours. It is standard treatment and brings enormous benefits to sick people. Failing to offer radiation services in Papua New Guinea means citizens are dying from cancer at an unnecessarily heightened rate.
Read more

Papua New Guinea currently has no radiotherapy treatment available for people who have cancer.

For the past two years, the nation’s only comprehensive cancer treatment facility in eastern Morobe province has been without a functioning radiation machine due to the government's inability to pass the regulatory legislation needed for it to be used.
Read more

In summary we have an ICON to thank for our advanced computer-controlled treatment machines and complex planning systems while some countries can’t even switch theirs on while patients miss out on treatment altogether.

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