AVO.L Share News (AVO)

(ShareCast News) - Advanced Oncotherapy was moving closer to success with its proton therapy for cancer treatment, updating the market on Tuesday of progress with its proton accelerator programme, dubbed 'LIGHT'.The AIM-traded company said its proton source, which was being constructed by Pantechnik in Bayeux, France, had been fully assembled and was ready for initial testing and tuning. It had taken charge of the unit and expected it to be shipped to its facility in Geneva once the tests had been completed in Bayeux.It also reported that the four modules that make up the Radio Frequency Quadruple (RFQ) had now been assembled at its Geneva facility and were ready for tuning, which will start at the end of March.Finally, Advanced Oncotherapy said that, following the first tests on the Side Coupled Drift Tube Linac (SCTDL) module, which began in July, the unit was now ready for high power testing.The four SCTDL modules used in the LIGHT system would accelerate the protons from the 5 MeV produced by the RFQ to 37.5 MeV.The Coupled Cavity Linac (CCL) then further accelerates the protons to the speeds needed to treat radiosensitive tumours."The team at Advanced Oncotherapy has been working hard in progressing the construction of our first LIGHT system and I am delighted that we remain on track and delivering to the timeline that we originally presented to shareholders in November 2014," said CEO Michael Sinclair."Our LIGHT system combines some remarkable technology and it is very pleasing to see it continue to take shape - once completed we will have developed a game-changing type of proton therapy that will allow this specialist treatment to be available for cancer patients in a much more effective and affordable way."