CLEVELAND – ViewRay, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRAY) today announced, in recognition of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, more than 2,300 pancreatic cancer patients have been treated with MRIdian at 46 centers around the world. ViewRay would like to recognize the global clinical teams providing options for patients who otherwise may not have been offered treatment. This enables more personalized treatment and helps further improve the precision of treatment. To date, 90 percent of MRIdian centers are treating pancreatic cancer in 5 sessions with an ablative treatment dose technique called MRIdian SMART (stereotactic MR-guided adaptive radiation therapy). With MRIdian SMART, modifications can be made throughout the treatment in response to changes in the tumor and nearby internal anatomy.
A recent study presented at ASTRO 2021, a major radiation oncology conference, demonstrated an improvement in overall survival and quality of life amongst inoperable pancreatic cancer patients treated with ablative MRIdian SMART. Data from 148 patients showed a longer median survival of 26 months using MRIdian SMART compared to 12-15 months typically seen in patients receiving chemotherapy and standard radiation therapy. The 2-year overall survival was over 50 percent, which is more than double the expected 2-year rate of 20 percent with lower-dose radiation on conventional CT-based systems1.
As part of the company’s commitment to advancing pancreatic cancer treatment, ViewRay is supporting a multi-center prospective clinical trial of radiation therapy in pancreatic cancer, as well as partnering with pancreas cancer advocacy groups who are at the forefront of funding breakthrough research and providing critical patient support.
The MRIdian SMART pancreas trial (NCT03621644), which completed enrollment last week, is a prospective clinical trial exploring the clinical benefits of ablative MR-guided radiation therapy in the treatment of borderline resectable or inoperable locally advanced pancreatic cancer. The goal of the prospective trial is to investigate in a controlled, prospective manner, the robustness of these outcomes and to track the quality of life over a 5-year trial period.
“I’m extremely grateful for Viewray to support the largest prospective ablative radiation study in pancreatic cancer ever,” said Parag Parikh, M.D., co-Principal Investigator of the study and Director of GI Radiation Oncology and MR-Guided Radiation Therapy at the Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit. “This research will help us to validate the long-term benefits of ablative 5 fraction MR-guided radiation in this deadly disease and may solidify it as a standard of care in the treatment of borderline and inoperable patients.”
“November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. At GenesisCare, we’re particularly focused on providing cutting edge treatment options for people with inoperable pancreatic tumors through our work using MRIdian, a radiotherapy machine that delivers stereotactic ablative radiotherapy with unparalleled accuracy,” said Dr. James Good, Clinical Director of Stereotactic Radiotherapy, GenesisCare UK. “The high radiation doses that can be delivered using MRIdian have been shown to improve survival rates in comparison with those that have been seen previously— and we’re proud to have provided compassionate access to 50 National Health Service (NHS) patients during the COVID19 pandemic. We’ll be continuing to innovate on MRIdian via clinical trials and other developments.”
Over 16,000 patients have been treated with MRIdian. Currently, 46 MRIdian systems are in clinical use at hospitals around the world, where they are used to treat a wide variety of solid tumors and are the focus of numerous ongoing research efforts. MRIdian has been the subject of hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, scientific meeting abstracts, and presentations. For a list of treatment centers, please visit: https://viewray.com/find-mridian-mri-guided-radiation-therapy/
For more information on the SMART trial in pancreatic cancer, please visit: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03621644.
Safety Statement
The MRIdian Linac System is not appropriate for all patients, including those who are not candidates for magnetic resonance imaging. Radiation treatments may cause side effects that can vary depending on the part of the body being treated. The most frequent ones are typically temporary and may include, but are not limited to, irritation to the respiratory, digestive, urinary or reproductive systems; fatigue; nausea; skin irritation; and hair loss. In some patients, side effects can be severe. Treatment sessions may vary in complexity and duration. Radiation treatment is not appropriate for all cancers. You should discuss the potential for side effects and their severity as well as the benefits of radiation and magnetic resonance imaging with your doctor to make sure radiation treatment is right for you.
About ViewRay
ViewRay, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRAY), designs, manufactures, and markets the MRIdian® MRI-Guided Radiation Therapy System. MRIdian is built upon a proprietary high-definition MR imaging system designed from the ground up to address the unique challenges and clinical workflow for advanced radiation oncology. Unlike MR systems used in diagnostic radiology, MRIdian’s high-definition MR was purpose-built to address specific challenges, including beam distortion, skin toxicity, and other concerns that potentially may arise when high magnetic fields interact with radiation beams. ViewRay and MRIdian are registered trademarks of ViewRay, Inc.
ViewRay is a medical device manufacturer and cannot and does not recommend specific treatment approaches. Individual results may vary. The results described herein may not be predictive.
Conflicts of interest: Parag Parikh, M.D and Dr. James Good have received honoraria and research grants from ViewRay, Inc.
1Chuong, M.C., Kirsch, C., Herrera, R., Rubens, M., et al. (2021). Long-Term Multi-Institutional Outcomes of 5-Fraction Ablative Stereotactic MR-Guided Adaptive Radiation Therapy (SMART) for Inoperable Pancreas Cancer With Median Prescribed Biologically Effective Dose of 100 Gy10. ASTRO 2021 Conference Abstract. International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2021.07.330
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