Pancreatic Cancer Therapy by MHI's "vero4DRT" Radiation Therapy System

Radiation therapy for cancer today is moving forward in pursuit of sufficient irradiation of the carcinomatous lesion and minimal radiation effect on nearby internal organs, normal tissue and organs at risk. IMRT is an innovative therapy method that achieves focused irradiation doses into such lesions. It incorporates the newest irradiation technique whereby dose intensity distribution at the irradiation target is modulated and irradiation is performed from multiple directions, enabling the formation of a high-dose area corresponding precisely to the complex shape of the carcinomatous lesion and reduction in the dose irradiated to normal organs. IMRT is already contributing to improved results in the treatment of numerous cancers such as prostate cancer and head and neck cancers. But with lesions in internal organs such as the lungs, liver or pancreas that move along with the patient's respiration, treatments involving use of highly accurate irradiation techniques such as IMRT were not easy to perform until now.

The vero4DRT is today's most advanced radiation therapy system. By integrating MHI's image processing technologies with its high-precision irradiation technologies, the vero4DRT can perform highly accurate target-tracking irradiation monitored in real time, even with lesions that move due to respiration, etc. The integration of dynamic-tracking therapy and IMRT has now enabled patients of pancreatic cancer, whose lesions move by respiration, to be treated with minimal stress by breathing normally even during treatment. Besides minimizing potential side-effects on healthy tissue, the system thus reduces the burdens on both the patient and the attending medical staff.

This research was conducted with support from the "Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology (FIRST Program)", which is instituted by the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP), through the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Support in medical aspects was provided by Kyoto University and the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation.

In developing the vero4DRT system, MHI was supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). Full-scale entry into the medical equipment field began with acquisition of pharmaceutical approval for the system in January 2008. Sales activities in both the domestic and global markets got under way in 2010 after receiving authorization to manufacture and market the vero4DRT as a system equipped with a tracking-irradiation feature. Going forward, as the system is expected to come into wider usage for even more advanced therapies, an increasing number of institutions are expected to adopt it, and MHI intends to respond with even more proactive sales expansion activities.