Breast Cancer Patient Undergoes First Cone Beam CT-Supported Proton Therapy Treatment

October 23, 2015 — IBA announced that a breast cancer patient at Willis-Knighton Cancer Center has received the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved compact proton therapy treatment with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). The treatment was completed using IBA’s Proteus One system.

Rather than scheduling one CT image on a weekly basis, the volumetric imaging modality CBCT offers the possibility to make qualitative images on a more frequent basis before or after the actual treatment, putting proton therapy on the threshold of adaptive treatment. Furthermore, it enhances the patient positioning precision, improving the global treatment quality. IBA has made the CBCT imaging modality available for different configurations and is the first and only company to have obtained FDA approval on a CBCT solution for a compact treatment system. The CBCT solution is fully integrated with IBA’s imaging platform adaPTinsight to offer fast 6-D corrections of patient positioning.

Clinical staff at the Willis-­Knighton Cancer Center selected a breast cancer patient to be the first for this newly commissioned imaging modality. It allowed for a very fluent patient setup, adding no more than a couple of minutes to the time spent by the patient in the treatment room. Willis-­Knighton clinicians believe that this superior verification tool will be an asset to improve and expand proton therapy treatment for head and neck, pancreatic and breast cancer patients in particular.

Lane Rosen, M.D., medical director of radiation oncology at the Willis-­Knighton Cancer Center, commented: “Nobody doubts proton therapy’s potential for ultimate precision and healthy tissue sparing, but on the spot verification remained a liability to fully leverage this accuracy. Now that our Proteus One installation features CBCT imaging, we can further enhance and expand proton therapy treatment for indications demanding the utmost precision.”

Greg Sonnenfeld, Willis­-Knighton’s cancer center administrator, commented: “From the moment we decided on the purchase of our Proteus One, it was indisputable that CBCT facilities would be added to our proton therapy solution. IBA did a wonderful job with the image quality and workflow so we are still able to maintain patient care and throughput while having superior imaging.”

For more information: www.iba-worldwide.com