A new technology aims to make tumors their own worst enemy in the fightagainst cancer -- and Stanford Medicine will be the first in the world toincorporate the treatment into the clinic.

The first generation of a machine using this technology --the X1, fromthe company RefleXion Medical -- harnesses positron emission tomography to deliverradiation that tracks a tumor in real time. This PET feedback allows the systemto send beams of radiation to destroy cancerous cells with heightenedprecision.

Researchers hope that this "biology-guided radiotherapy" will increase accuracy, safety and efficacy of cancer radiation treatment. Stanford physicians plan to test the X1 later this year through clinical trials at Stanford Hospital. Their first step will be to obtain approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

"To my knowledge, this machine is the first of its kind. It combinestwo technologies - one traditionallyused in cancer diagnostics, and one in therapeutics -- into a singletechnology," said DanielChang, MD, professor of radiation oncology, who will lead the clinicaltrial. "That's what makes this really unique."

Radiation therapy is often one of the primary tools used to treat cancer.But the therapy, which bombards tumors with high-energy particles that killcancer cells, comes with a downside: The beam of destructive particles does notdiscriminate between cancerous and non-cancerous cells, and healthy cells areoften damaged in the line of fire.

With this new technology, the PET scanner provides continuous feedback aboutthe location of a tumor, based on the tumor's emissions, even if the tumormoves as a patient breathes. This PET feedback allows doctors to continuetraining beams of radiation on cancerous cells, even as the tumor's locationshifts. With less risk of targeting healthy cells, doctors would be better ableto zero in on tumors with higher doses of radiation, executing more accurateand precise radiation therapy, Chang said.

Samuel Mazin, PhD, co-founder and chief technology officer of RefleXion Medical, thought up the idea for the new technology while he was a Stanford postdoctoral scholar. Stanford Medicine will be the first to conduct clinical trials with the new machine. Both components of the machine -- PET scans and radiation -- have well-established safety profiles.

Chang and his colleagues hope that the technology will help open new avenuesof research, such as clinical trials for patients with multiple tumors who mayotherwise not be eligible for radiation therapy. The technology also could leadto studies to develop novel and more sensitive PET tracers -- molecules thatreveal where cancer is in the body -- to assess the inherent biology of tumorsand their response to treatment.

"We're excited about this technology for many reasons," Chang said. "Itopens up new possibilities for treatment by allowing us to deliver radiationthat tracks the tumor with extreme precision in real time -- something we're notcurrently able to do."

Photo courtesy of RefleXion 2020. All rights reserved.

Continue reading here:

New cancer treatment that tracks and zaps tumors is coming to Stanford Medicine - Stanford Medical Center Report