(WWJ) -- Corewell Health is working on cancer treatment advancements with the $2.2 million grant for the National Institutes of Health.
Doctors will work on potentially being able to use a new proton beam technology, called dynamic SPArc (Spot-Scanning Proton Arc), for everyday care of patients with the four-year grant, a press release about the funding said.
“Our goal is to make this therapy fast, accurate and ready for everyday use for a broad range of patients,” Xuanfeng Ding, Ph.D., medical physicist, Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, said.
Ding is leading the study.
According to the press release, the research team would like to create the first algorithm in the world that would help doctors tailor the most accurate and personalized treatment plan for each patient. Doctors may also be able to send an exact dose of radiation to the specific spot. This would protect the surrounding healthy tissue and organs.
Corewell Health has been on the cutting edge of such technology in the past. Corewell doctors were the first to treat a U.S. patient using a “step-and-shoot” method. This allowed them to destroy a salivary gland tumor, with the only side effect being mild skin discoloration.
The treatment plan took weeks to create, and health officials said the patient was often required to stay still for more than a half hour during the daily treatments.
“The number of proton therapy centers is still very limited across the U.S.,” Ding said. “We aim to reduce treatment time from 30 minutes to five, which is better for the patient and allows more people to have access to high-quality cancer care.”
Corewell Health said the rotating arm used in dynamic SPArc therapy delivers radiation in a “smooth, continuous motion.” Current proton therapies have better outcomes than traditional radiation therapy, but pauses between each beam angle slows down treatment.
“Each patient needs a custom plan,” Ding said. “Right now, these plans consist of thousands of proton energy layers and millions of proton spots to optimize and calculate, which is a significant computational effort even for modern advanced computers. We want to make that process much quicker while finding the best solution for the patient.”
Preliminary evidence suggests the therapy would be particularly promising to treat complex cancers affecting the head and neck, brain, liver and lungs. The therapy could prevent potential damage to healthy organs near a tumor.
“As we study and learn the unique features of the proton therapy system, we can bridge the knowledge gap between a more stationary treatment technology that’s available today and our novel dynamic treatment delivery system,” Ding said. “This project could be key to making SPArc therapy regularly available in clinics globally.”
Patients who want more information about proton therapy services offered by Corewell Health can call 248-551-2833.
Researchers and experts from the University of Pennsylvania, Mayo Clinic, Northwestern University and the New York Proton Therapy Center are all participating in the study.