The world’s first MRI-guided radiation therapy system is being used to treat patients at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Mo. The ViewRay system from ViewRay Inc, Cleveland, enables physicians to view tumors continuously during the procedure via magnetic resonance imaging and deliver a targeted radiation dose.
“Real-time MR guidance offers a way to treat tumors that move with respiration,” said Jeffrey Bradley, MD, S. Lee Kling professor of radiation oncology at Washington University School of Medicine. “Our physicians and physicists report the ability to see tumors move in real-time during the entire treatment. This helps to ensure that tumor targets are hit and healthy tissue is spared.”
Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for lung cancer, one of the initial treatments available on the system, delivers high-dose radiation to precise, well-defined targets to limit exposure of cancer-free tissue.
“Treating patients is a key milestone for ViewRay, but more importantly, it marks a significant advance in cancer care,” said Chris A. Raanes, ViewRay president and CEO. “MRI-guided radiation therapy is no longer a research quest; today it has become real and offers physicians a new and powerful weapon for treating cancer.”
