Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART) supports the Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) when treating tumors. The goal of IMRT is to deliver the highest possible amount of radiation while sparing the healthy and critical tissues around it. ART is designed to provide feedback to the radiation oncologist immediately before or during treatment, so therapy can be adapted to anatomical changes and shifts in patient positioning.

A primary goal of ART is to ensure that the therapeutic dose is delivered precisely to the target and that surrounding healthy tissue is spared as planned. This is especially important with breast irradiation, because the breast is close to the heart and lungs. Professor Philippe Lambin, MD, Head of the Department of Radiation Oncology at MAASTRO Clinic in Maastricht (right picture), the Netherlands, is impressed with the ARTISTE™ Solution from Siemens, the next generation in ART. “You are able to set up the beam so that the heart and lungs are not in the radiation field,” he says. Innovative In-Line™ imaging technology allows clinicians to tailor radiation therapy to the patient’s changing anatomy, for example through tumor growth, breathing.

“With entrance-and-exit dosimetry, you know precisely where in each part of the body the dose is,” explains Lambin (left picture). “An advantage of ARTISTE is that the system images in the axis of the beam, not perpendicular to the beam. The image quality is much better. This has really changed physician quality control.” Additional features that Lambin finds appealing are its flexibility in working with Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT). “Given ARTISTE’s built-in flexibility,” he says, “we do not need to immobilize the patient with a special frame for stereotactic radiotherapy.” Lambin adds that molecular and functional imaging will be the next hurdle to overcome. “Radiation therapy has been given in a homogeneous fashion, and we know tumors are not homogenous.” Today, together with Siemens, his clinic is at the forefront of this research, forging a new path in ART.