Short description
(English)
|
Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT), the irradiation of a lesion by an array of planar synchrotron X ray microbeams (50-150 keV), is a novel form of radiosurgery. The therapeutic index of MRT, as tested worldwide for two decades in many tumors of small laboratory animals, is clearly superior to that achieved by conventional irradiation with a single X-ray beam. Moreover, normal tissues tolerate irradiation by microbeams extraordinarily well. If those characteristics of MRT prove to be valid in larger animals, clinical phase I trials for human patients may then be planned. Spontaneous cancer in pet cats and dogs shows strong similarities to human cancers, covering histologic appearance, tumor genetics, biologic behavior and response to conventional therapies. Cancer progression, compressed in time versus its course in humans, allows timely assessment of new therapies. In the context of COST action # TD 1205, the Swiss Based Research Group for MRT applies herewith for funds to realize a synchrotron MRT trial for spontaneous tumors in pets, under the guidance of experienced Swiss clinical veterinary radiooncologists, anatomists and pathologists, in close collaboration with highly specialized European teams, to identify and evaluate effectiveness, safety, safe dosage ranges, and side effects of MRT.
|
