by
Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief | March 30, 2015
From the March 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Not long after receiving FDA approval, ProBeam, Varian’s pencil-beam system, started treating patients at the new Scripps Proton Therapy Center in San Diego, California. The system is also being used at the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center in Munich, and at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. Varian currently has contracts for system installations at seven other sites around the world.
IBA is also providing pencil-beam scanning, and Legrain says, “The benefits have unleashed the full power of proton therapy.” The ProteusONE systems they’ve sold in the last year all have pencil-beam capabilities.
For Mevion, a new beam delivery technology called HYPERSCAN was introduced at ASTRO in 2014, and is allowing pencil beam scanning delivery of IMPT treatments at a higher speed than was previously possible. The company credits the technique to the single-room construction of the system, which simplifies proton delivery by eliminating the need for a beam transport system.
Mevion is optimistic that studies will reveal HYPERSCAN as a desirable alternative to other forms of IMPT, particularly when treating tumors in areas where movement happens, like the chest or abdomen.
Pediatric patients to the front of the line
In recent years, certain centers have come under fire for treating indications that may not be of the highest priority. Prostate treatment, in particular, has been the source of some controversy and over-utilization may be driven by the revenue generating needs of the facility.
As long as proton centers are scarce and the cost of treatment is high, Karmalawy says it’s essential to focus on caring for the patients who can benefit the most from it. “From an ethical standpoint, you must not hesitate to treat pediatric patients,” says Legrain. “You should give it to them because of the reduction in side effects and the impact it has on the growing child and also the brain.”
As the clinical data accumulated, the last twelve months have seen a great step forward in terms of studies outlining and defining the top-priority indications for proton therapy. Over the summer, ASTRO released its Proton Beam Therapy Model Policy, which outlines appropriate use coverage guidelines.
Establishing protocols to define which cancers highly benefit from proton treatment, need more clinical evidence to recommend them, or yield little or no benefit over radiation alternatives, has been as much a part of the progress in the industry as the technology itself.
