For the latest installation The Christie has partnered with Elekta in the development and use of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) image guidance at the time of treatment, according to the statement.

Lung cancer treatment is one aim of MR-adapted radiotherapy, according to honorary consultant clinical oncologist and professor of thoracic radiation oncology Corinne Faivre-Finn, who is tumor site group lead for lung cancer in Elekta’s Global research consortium.


“Radiation therapy is a critical component of lung cancer treatment, and we believe that MR-linac will enable more effective delivery of radiation to lung tumors while sparing healthy lung tissue and other nearby organs,” noted Elekta’s Brown.

“It will allow individualized and intensified treatment of patients with lung cancer, leading to improved local control and survival with no increase in toxicity,” added Faivre-Finn, who pointed out that, “currently, MR imaging is not used routinely for radiotherapy planning in lung cancer. Therefore, ongoing research is focusing on MR sequences that can be used for radiotherapy planning and the evaluation of radiotherapy plans in the presence of a magnet. The group is developing clinical studies in a number of patient groups that currently have a poor outcome after radiotherapy treatment. Although The Christie will be leading on lung cancer research within the Elekta consortium, we anticipate that MR-linac will be used to treat patients with a wide range of cancers.”

Significant engineering hurdles had to be overcome to use MR in the presence of radiotherapy, as the powerful MR magnets could interfere with radiation beams.

“As a leader in digital MR technologies and image-guided therapy solutions, we have been working hard with Elekta and consortium partners such as The Christie to meet a set of ambitious milestones,” said Rob Cascella, CEO of the Diagnosis and Treatment businesses at Royal Philips. “With excellent progress in the MR-linac installations and validation of the technology, plus a global increase in the use of MR for radiotherapy planning, our journey to make a positive difference in cancer care is gaining great momentum.”

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