03.06.2024
Cancer treatment with proton therapy: New project launched to improve the Prompt Gamma-Ray Timing method
A team of researchers from the Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf has launched a unique project to improve treatment verification, a crucial aspect of radiation therapy with protons. The project, entitled "Treatment verification for proton therapy: Predicting the temporal distribution of prompt gamma radiation", aims to develop a simulation model of the Prompt Gamma Ray Timing (PGT) method in order to be able to use this method on cancer patients for the first time.
The PGT method is based on the precise measurement of the time distribution of prompt gamma rays generated by interactions between the proton beam and the atomic nuclei in the patient's body. Characteristics of these time measurements are then used to infer the range of the therapeutic beam in the body, to adjust the treatment in the event of deviations from the planned dose distribution and thus to increase the safety of the therapy. Such deviations can be caused, for example, by respiratory movement and intestinal movement or tumour swelling.
The project brings together a team of experts from Dresden and Zittau with researchers in Valencia to tackle the challenge of accurate and reliable treatment verification in proton therapy. Over the next three years, the team will develop and verify a simulation model and apply it to patient data in order to further improve the precision of proton therapy.
"Our aim is to push the boundaries of the PGT method," states Dr Sonja Schellhammer, head of the research project and Professor of Physics at Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz. "By the development of a simulation model, we can not only detect deviations from the planned dose during treatment, but also create a data basis for the design of analysis methods based on artificial intelligence and for the optimisation of the measurement system."
The project has the potential to significantly enhance cancer treatment with proton beams. Only by simulating the measurement system it is possible to generate a well-founded expected value for the distribution of prompt gamma radiation and to interpret deviations measured during treatment. Better verification of the treatment could then enable individualised adaptation of the radiation to a patient's changing anatomy during the course of treatment, and thus reduce side effects and improve treatment results.
"This project is an important step towards the first application of the PGT method on patients. In the future, we would like to detect potential deviations from the originally planned irradiation in real time and correct them immediately if necessary. The realisation of this so-called online-adaptive proton therapy still requires some research and development on many individual components. Treatment verification plays a key role in this process," says Dr. Toni Kögler, research group leader at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf and OncoRay - National Centre for Radiation Research in Oncology. "We are looking forward to various challenges that need to be addressed to this aim and are excited to see the first results."
The project is funded by German Cancer Aid as part of the " Klinische Forschung/Kliniknahe Grundlagenforschung " funding programme.
For further information, please contact: Prof. Dr. Sonja Schellhammer, Tel: 03583 612-4766, Mail: sonja.schellhammer@hszg.de or Dr. Toni Kögler, Tel. 0351 458 7414, Mail: toni.koegler@oncoray.de
