28 Nov 2022 07:00
28 November 2022
ADVANCED ONCOTHERAPY PLC
("Advanced Oncotherapy" or the "Company")
Study showcases the potential superiority of LIGHT in treating breast cancer patients
Study demonstrates that LIGHT proton minibeams could result in up to 99% reduction in radiation dose to critical organs, the heart and lungs, compared with cyclotron-generated protons
Findings expected to be presented at a leading medical conference in 2023
Advanced Oncotherapy (AIM:AVO), the developer of LIGHT, the next-generation proton therapy system for cancer treatment, is pleased to announce findings of an important simulation study which suggests LIGHT will offer superiority in the treatment of breast cancer. These results, coupled with the cost benefits of LIGHT over cyclotron-based proton therapy, build the case for the increased use of proton therapy for breast cancer patients, a large market that has potential to be addressed by LIGHT.
The study, which was conducted by the Company, has subsequently been reviewed by its research partner, the Cleveland Clinic, and is expected to be presented at a leading medical conference during 2023. Such simulation studies are an accepted practice in radiotherapy and have been shown to be highly accurate in predicting tumour response and follow-up event rates1.
The research compared treatment plans for breast cancer patients, created in RayStation (RaySearch Labs AB, Stockholm), a treatment planning system, for two digital anthropomorphic phantoms (digital human models), which differed in body mass index and breast volume: a larger patient model - "50", and a smaller patient model - "89". The aim of the research was to investigate the relative doses to critical organs at risk ("OAR"), in particular the heart and lungs in the case of breast cancer radiotherapy, for proton therapy with the LIGHT system and LIGHT minibeams versus cyclotron-based proton therapy systems. Reducing the collateral radiation dose delivered to the healthy tissues in OAR is associated with a lower toxicity burden to patients. In addition, the research assessed whether treating breast cancer patients with LIGHT in the upright position compared to traditional treatment in the supine (lying down) position may offer further benefits to patients.
The findings from the simulation study imply that the LIGHT beam spot size, particularly LIGHT minibeams, is capable of delivering better results for OAR preservation in patients with breast cancer while maintaining similar target coverage compared with legacy cyclotron treatment. In addition, the study showed that treating patients in an upright position, as the Company has installed at its assembly site in Daresbury, Cheshire, UK, demonstrated superior results compared with the supine position for whole breast radiation. The superiority of the upright treatment position is attributed to the greater physical separation between the heart and the breast in comparison to the supine position. Specifically, the LIGHT minibeam system was found to reduce the OAR doses by up to 99% compared with the cyclotron-generated proton beams. As seen in Table 1 below, the OAR dose reductions were greatest for whole breast irradiations in the upright position and the LIGHT minibeams were shown to reduce OAR dose in all of the modelled situations.
Table 1: Maximum small volume OAR dose reduction for LIGHT proton minibeams vs. cyclotron proton beams
% heart dose reduction | % lung dose reduction | |
Patient "50" model supine whole breast | 98 | 96 |
Patient "50" model supine partial breast | 81 | 83 |
Patient "50" upright whole breast | 98 | 96 |
Patient "50" upright partial breast | 70 | 83 |
Patient "89" model supine whole breast | 99 | 98 |
Patient "89" model supine partial breast | 25 | 75 |
Patient "89" model upright whole breast | 99 | 99 |
Patient "89" model upright partial breast | 65 | 68 |
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women worldwide, representing about 25% of all cancers in women2. Radiotherapy is commonly used as adjuvant to breast conserving surgery. To date, conventional photon radiotherapy has widely been used to treat breast cancer but can result in significant doses to surrounding organs such as the lungs and heart, especially increasing the risk of coronary heart disease. As previously published by the Particle Therapy Cooperative Group ("PTCOG") Breast Cancer Subcommittee, proton therapy has been shown to reduce the dose to non-target structures while optimising target coverage3. However, PTCOG noted that there remains additional financial costs associated with proton therapy, which the Company believes could be addressed by the LIGHT system as a cost effective method of delivering proton therapy to patients with breast cancer.
Dr. Jonathan Farr, Chief Clinical Officer of Advanced Oncotherapy, said:
"We are excited to announce the results of a study conducted by the Company and reviewed by our research partner, the Cleveland Clinic, which showcases the potential superiority of using the LIGHT system in breast cancer treatment, the most common malignancy in women, versus a traditional cyclotron source proton therapy system. The findings show that the LIGHT proton system is ideally positioned to target such tumours while minimising damage to surrounding healthy tissues, in particular, the heart and lungs. We look forward to presenting data from this simulation at a leading medical conference in 2023 and continuing to work with our research partners to illustrate the clinical advantages of our LIGHT system to patients."
Notes
1 - Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2013 January; 10(1): 27-40. doi:10.1038/nrclinonc.2012.196.
2 - Ferlay J, Colombet M, Soerjomataram I, et al. Cancer statistics for the year 2020: An overview. Int J Cancer. 2021;149(4):778-789.
3 - Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2021 October 01; 111(2): 337-359. doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2021.05.110.
- ENDS -
Advanced Oncotherapy plc | www.avoplc.com |
Dr. Michael Sinclair, Executive Chairman | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3617 8728 |
Nicolas Serandour, CEO |
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Allenby Capital Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker) | |
Nick Athanas / Piers Shimwell (Corporate Finance) Amrit Nahal / Matt Butlin (Sales and Corporate Broking) | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 |
SI Capital Ltd (Joint Broker) |
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Nick Emerson | Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413 500 |
Jon Levinson | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3871 4066 |
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FTI Consulting (Financial PR & IR) | advancedoncotherapy@fticonsulting.com |
Simon Conway / Rob Winder | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000 |
Notes to Editors
About Advanced Oncotherapy Plc
Advanced Oncotherapy, a UK headquartered company with offices in London, Geneva, The Netherlands and in the USA, is a provider of particle therapy with protons that harnesses the best in modern technology. Advanced Oncotherapy's team "ADAM," based in Geneva, focuses on the development of a proprietary proton accelerator called, Linac Image Guided Hadron Technology (LIGHT). LIGHT's compact configuration delivers proton beams in a way that facilitates greater precision and electronic control.
Advanced Oncotherapy will offer healthcare providers affordable systems that will enable them to treat cancer with innovative technology as well as expected lower treatment-related side effects.
Advanced Oncotherapy continually monitors the market for any emerging improvements in delivering proton therapy and actively seeks working relationships with providers of these innovative technologies. Through these relationships, the Company will remain the prime provider of an innovative and cost-effective system for particle therapy with protons.