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Proton Therapy | Overview

proton advantage

Proton therapy is the most common form of particle therapy used today. For the past 60 years, scientists and researchers have been studying particle therapy as a form of radiation treatment that uses beams of protons, neutrons, and atomic nuclei instead of the traditional photon beams.

Proton therapy enables clinicians to improve dose control and maximize dose conformity. About 50,000 people have been treated with proton therapy around the world, clearly establishing its efficacy. As a result of its high success rate, treatment has emerged from research facilities into purpose built clinics. By combining advanced imaging, planning, and treatment technologies with state of the art proton delivery, Varian is at the forefront of improving cancer therapy options today.

One of the main benefits of proton therapy is the ability to minimize radiation to surrounding normal, healthy tissue. This is particularly critical for:

  • Pediatric tumors
  • Brain tumors
  • Eye tumors
  • Tumors close to the brain stem and spinal cord
Example of dose conformity and Eclipse software

Varian has a rich history working with the scientific community to advance proton therapy through technological developments. Development of the Eclipse Treatment Planning software system for proton therapy began in 1992. Since then, the first Chinese proton center has implemented both Eclipse and the ARIA Oncology Information System, and MD Anderson and the University of Florida have implemented Eclipse in a clinical proton environment.

In January 2007, Varian acquired ACCEL Instruments GmbH, a privately-held supplier of proton therapy systems for cancer treatment and scientific research instruments. ACCEL's technology for proton therapy incorporates a unique scanning beam technology that offers distinct performance advantages for more precise dose distribution than is possible with other proton delivery systems.

As a result, Varian is the only company in the industry to provide both therapy planning software and hardware for proton therapy.

Disclaimer

The proton therapy device technology described here has not been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for clinical use and is in development. The FDA has a unique set of standards for proton therapy devices because the entire proton therapy facility must be built for the specific device. For these types of devices, the FDA allows proton therapy sponsors to discuss projects with potential customers and to engage in contracts/orders to build proton therapy facilities and /or to purchase proton therapy equipment. However, contracts or other engagements specific to clinical practice are strictly prohibited; that is, no engagements or agreements for patient scheduling or physician group practice to use proton therapy equipment are permitted in advance of FDA clearance.

 

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