MR-Linac improves prostate cancer treatment – ICT&health

The UMC Utrecht started a year ago with the ERECT researchk to this new, erection-sparing, radiation for patients with prostate cancer. The irradiation is performed using a MR-Linac.

This method has been used for a long time, but thanks to specially developed software, the prostate can now be monitored ‘live’ during radiation. As a result, the treatment can be performed even more accurately and less, if any, damage will be caused to vessels and nerves.

Breakthrough in radiation prostate cancer

With the ERECT study, UMC Utrecht wanted to make clear how great the advantages of the ‘MR-Linac irradiation method are. It is now clear that the new technique represents a breakthrough for the treatment of prostate cancer. “The MR-linac enables us to image the tumor and the surrounding healthy tissue that we want to spare, better than ever in real-time during the radiotherapy treatment,” says clinical physicist Hans de Boer of UMC Utrecht. . It was he who introduced the new method in the hospital.

The great advantage of irradiation with the help of the real-time images produced by the MR-Linac lies in the fact that every movement, no matter how small, can be followed, for example of the pelvis. These movements ensure that the irradiation is performed less precisely.

Thanks to the real-time images of the prostate, the radiation can now also be adjusted in real-time. Special software is used for this purpose, which was developed by the research group of the UMC Utrecht. “This way we can compensate for every movement, so that half the dose is delivered to healthy tissue than before with MR-Linac radiation”, says De Boer.

New standard

Several dozen patients were selected for the study. After the first fifteen patients in the study had been treated with the new method, the results were so good that it was decided to use the method as standard. The irradiation margins could also be reduced so that the healthy tissue is spared even better.

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