Advanced Oncotherapy PLC (LSE:AVO, OTC:AONCF) said results from an important clinical modelling study suggest its LIGHT proton therapy kit may deliver ‘superior outcomes’ versus legacy systems in certain circumstances.
The research assessed the LIGHT technology using flash protocols where ultra-high radiation doses are delivered in fractions of a second.
This approach offers the potential to treat cancer patients in a single visit, rather than up to 30 visits with conventional radiation therapy.
The data showed the legacy systems weren’t equipped to deliver quick, high doses of radiation. LIGHT, by contrast, was able to “more effectively target tumours of all shapes”.
The modelling results were delivered by Dr Anna-Maria Kolano, a medical physicist at Advanced Oncotherapy, in a presentation to the prestigious American Society for Radiation Oncology.
Chief clinical officer, Dr Jonathan Farr, said: "There is an urgent need to treat more cancer patients and reduce the toxicity burden associated with legacy radiation therapy systems. We believe FLASH is the future of radiation therapy as it not only promises to improve patient outcomes but also the patient experience.
"At Advanced Oncotherapy, we are developing our LIGHT proton therapy system to enable FLASH delivery anywhere in the human body. The modelled data presented at ASTRO further showcases the LIGHT system's advantages in comparison to legacy proton therapy systems in designing FLASH treatment plans, thus enabling tumour targeting and sparing the surrounding healthy tissues in a reduced number of patient visits.”
The LIGHT system offers a revolution in proton beam therapy for cancer treatment by being significantly smaller than the current systems. The company’s first treatment suite will fit in the basement of a medical office in London’s Harley Street. Usually, proton beam equipment takes up significantly more space than is being used by AVO’s kit.