MD Anderson Cancer Center and RaySearch Laboratories formed a strategic alliance with the aim of enhancing cancer radiation therapy through several initiatives, including more precisely targeting of tumors and improving upon, and making more available, an existing radiation therapy called adaptive radiation therapy, currently only used at highly specialized care centers.
Traditionally, additional margins are set around the target area to allow for tumor movement and variations in how patients are positioned during treatment.
However, these margins do not always compensate for unexpected changes in the tumor and surrounding normal tissue over the full course of radiation treatment. Adaptive radiation therapy uses frequent imaging to give an up-to-date assessment of physical changes and enable precisely tailored treatment for each patient.
The partnership, which builds upon a previously established relationship between RaySearch and MD Anderson centered on RayCare, RaySearch’s new oncology information system, combines MD Anderson’s clinical data and expertise with the latest technology and platforms available through RaySearch and will focus on the following areas:
Integration of advanced imaging into the treatment planning process to help define the tumor targets better.
Management of changes in the tumor that may occur during treatment, and monitoring and adjusting treatment to accommodate each patient’s individual circumstances at any point during therapy.
Building software components with the aim of creating a new standard of care in radiation therapy.
