Elekta radiation therapy system brings hope to cancer patients in China’s Zhejiang province

Elekta Infinity gives clinicians the technology to deliver precision radiation medicine.

June 2020 saw a new dawn of hope and better cancer treatments for patients in and around China’s Zhejiang province with the installation of an Elekta Infinity™ linear accelerator at Zhejiang People’s Hospital. Elekta Infinity brings sophisticated 4D CBCT image guidance and other advanced technologies to enable clinicians to deliver precision radiation medicine.

Precise tumor targeting

Approximately 50 percent of people with cancer will receive radiation therapy at some stage during their treatment course.¹ Elekta Infinity allows clinicians to deliver radiation to the target precisely, while protecting surrounding normal tissue and critical structures.

“In the past, changes to the tumor could not be observed during treatment, but now – with the advanced 4D CBCT capabilities of Infinity – it is possible to visualize internal anatomy in real time,” says Professor Jia Yongshi, MD, a Radiation Oncologist at Zhejiang People’s Hospital radiation therapy department. “This technology is used to confirm the position of the tumor before treatment and to monitor tumor movement during the delivery of treatment beams. It is applicable to many indications and is especially beneficial for lung and breast cancer patients.

“Lung cancer patients are always impacted by respiratory movement,” he continues. “Previously, to ensure the whole tumor was irradiated, therapists had to expand the treated area to include some of the surrounding normal tissues, exposing it to radiation. Therefore, to protect healthy tissue, we could not deliver very high doses to the target, so the treatment effect was not always optimal. Now, with the Infinity system’s 4D CBCT image guidance, we can precisely track the position of the tumor according to the patient’s respiratory pattern. This allows us to maximize dose to the target while minimizing dose to the surrounding critical structures and normal tissues.”

Reducing stress for patients

High medical costs are another problem that patients face in some parts of the world. Elekta Infinity, with its High Dose Rate mode (flattening filter free), combines high precision with high speed to shorten treatment courses by up to 50 percent compared with Zhejiang People’s Hospital’s previous system, effectively cutting medical costs in half.

“With our former system, it took about 10 minutes to complete a single fraction for each patient, and this would be repeated 30 to 35 times to complete the treatment course,” Professor Jia says. “With Infinity, each fraction requires only about five minutes.”

“With our former system, it took about 10 minutes to complete a single fraction for each patient. With Infinity, each fraction requires only about five minutes.”

“The Zhejiang Medical Institutions are increasing investments to drive the development of medical professions,” he says. “The aim is to both implement advanced treatment technologies and improve medical capabilities. The introduction and use of Elekta Infinity will not only bring huge benefits to the development of the Zhejiang People’s Hospital Radiotherapy Center, but it will also greatly benefit cancer patients and enhance the hospital’s competitiveness in the area of cancer treatment.”

Learn more about Elekta Infinity.

Reference: Thompson MK, Poortmans P, Chalmers AJ, et al. Practice-changing radiation therapy trials for the treatment of cancer: where are we 150 years after the birth of Marie Curie? Br J Cancer. 2018 Aug;119(4):389-407.

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