On 5 and 6 December, around 130 international experts will meet at Dresden's OncoRay - National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology - for a symposium to celebrate 10 years of proton therapy in Dresden and to discuss the latest developments in proton therapy. To date, this innovative radiation technology is only offered at around 120 centers worldwide - four of which are in Germany. The expert workshop will focus on questions relating to clinical evidence, biological efficacy and technical developments in proton therapy.

In December 2014, the first patients were treated at the University Proton Therapy Dresden (UPTD) at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden. Now, ten years later, more than 30 doctors, medical physics experts and medical technologists in radiology, with technical support from the manufacturing company, treat over 270 patients every year in two-shift operation. More than 2,200 patients have already benefited from this innovative cancer treatment.

The aim of the OncoRay Centre is to significantly improve the treatment of cancer through biologically individualised, technologically optimised radiotherapy. Proton therapy is considered a gentle form of radiotherapy and is primarily used for tumours in the brain and spinal cord, the base of the skull, the salivary glands, the head and neck area, the oesophagus, the lungs and for the treatment of children suffering from cancer. Since 2019, OncoRay has also been a reference center for the treatment of children and adolescents suffering from glioma.

In parallel to clinical operations, international scientists specialising in biology, physics, image processing and engineering are researching the effectiveness of proton therapy and developing the therapy of tomorrow. These questions include: Is it possible to adapt the radiotherapy plan in real time as the anatomy changes? Which imaging technique is best suited to visualising this in the human body? Do tumours react differently after irradiation with protons than after conventional photon irradiation, and if so, why? Is it possible to predict which patient will benefit from proton therapy so that the additional costs are justified?

Proton therapy

The challenge in radiotherapy is to destroy the tumour and at the same time irradiate as little healthy tissue as possible. This, in turn, can lead to temporary or permanent side effects. In contrast to high-energy photons (X-rays), protons emit most of their energy at a predefined depth in the body, ideally in the tumour, due to their physical properties. Before the target volume is reached, the dose output is only low; after the tumour, the energy of the protons drops to zero. This means that the normal tissue surrounding the tumour can be spared. In order to research the value of proton therapy in the clinic, almost all patients treated with protons are treated at the OncoRay Centre as part of clinical studies. 
The OncoRay Center Dresden is a joint institution of the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden, the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden.

More: https://www.oncoray.de/news/article/symposium-10-years-of-proton-therapy-december-5-6-2024-dresden

Contact:
OncoRay – National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology
Dr. Katja Storch

www.oncoray.de