The Christie’s new Proton Beam Therapy Centre in Manchester, due to treat its first patients next summer as the UK’s first NHS high-energy proton beam facility (see also pages 45-49), will be equipped with Varian’s ProBeam proton therapy system.
Dow Wilson, Varian’s CEO, said: “Varian is proud to have been contracted to equip and service the national NHS proton therapy centres at UCLH and The Christie. ProBeam was selected after an extremely rigorous and thorough tender process.”
David Scott, regional sales director, Varian Medical Systems, added: “Unlike some single room facilities, the ProBeam systems in the UK will provide a flexible solution with a total of six treatment rooms, all with a full 360 degrees of gantry rotation, meaning tumours can be targeted from more directions. The ProBeam system also leverages many of the technological advances already employed on the TrueBeam linear accelerator, providing high patient throughput, combined with high precision image-guided treatment. The result is an easily upgradeable platform designed for long-term viability that should enable the NHS to meet capacity projections for patients that may benefit from proton therapy, without compromise, today and into the future.”
Varian says its ProBeam system with Dynamic Peak Scanning is ‘uniquely capable of high-speed intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT), the most precise form of proton therapy available’. ProBeam technology is already being used to treat patients at proton therapy centres in San Diego, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Munich, and Villigen in Switzerland. As well as being supplied to the UCLH in London and The Christie, Varian’s technology is also being installed at new proton therapy centers in Denmark, Holland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan.
The Christie has also chosen Varian’s Eclipse treatment planning software for its new PBT Centre. Matthew Clarke, lead physicist for proton treatment planning, said: “We selected the software because of the technical excellence and strong connectivity of Varian’s systems, and the fact that it is a well-established, reliable, supplier of cancer treatment equipment and software. The system’s ability to enable robust optimisation of treatment plans, and the truly adaptive planning based on images taken during treatment, were instrumental.
“The unrivalled connectivity of Varian’s software means everything is stored in one location, and can be accessed site-wide. With no need to keep importing and exporting information, we can have a truly paperless department with much more efficient overall workflow than with independent systems. We are working closely with Varian to build a system that entirely meets our needs.”
Although patient treatment is not due to commence at The Christie Proton Beam Therapy Centre until next summer, the Eclipse system will be delivered considerably earlier, as proton physicists intend using the system to do parallel plans for patients currently sent to the US for proton treatments.
The photo shows a Varian cyclotron being craned into position at a facility in St Petersburg.
