Skip to main content

Perspectives of spatially fractionated radiation therapy at synchrotrons

QUICK INFORMATION
Type
Seminar
Start Date
23-01-2018 10:30
End Date
23-01-2018 11:30
Location
Room 500 - 501, Central Building
Speaker's name
Stefan BARTZSCH
Speaker's institute
Department of Radiation Oncology - Munich
Contact name
Eva Jahn
Host name
A. Rack
Add event to calendar
iCal | vCal

Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT) is an innovative, radically new approach to radiation therapy that utilizes high intensity synchrotron radiation. Instead of treating the tumour with homogeneous target conform doses, a collimator subdivides the radiation field into planar micrometre wide high dose areas (peaks) separated by a few hundred micrometre wide low dose regions (valleys), which is usually referred to as spatial fractionation. Doses in the peaks reach up to several hundred Grays, while doses in the valleys stay below the tissue tolerance level. A significant body of preclinical evidence demonstrates that MRT is equally effective in tumour treatment as conventional radiation therapy, while normal tissue is more effectively spared. This differential effect is achieved by exploiting differences in the tumour and normal tissue microenvironment - a novel, paradigm changing property in radiation oncology.

Why has MRT not yet become clinical reality and how far have we proceeded towards its clinical translation? MRT is a multidisciplinary field of research involving engineering, physics, biology and medicine. It places high technical demands on the radiation source, dosimetry and treatment planning. I will demonstrate that treatment planning and dose calculation are for the most part solved problems. Currently the ESRF is the most adequate radiation source in the world for clinical trials in MRT. I will discuss ideas of a compact source that may translate MRT to a conventional hospital environment and may also allow phase contrast imaging. Finally, I will present my vision for ID17 and why I consider the ESRF to be an exciting place for future biomedical research.

Visitors from off-site please contact Eva Jahn tel +33 (0)4 76 88 26 19 to arrange for a gate pass.
Requests made by e-mail will be confirmed.
If you do not receive a confirmation e-mail, please contact us by phone.