‘I call this Star Trek’: New $10M machine innovating cancer treatments in Ottawa

A $10-million MR-Linac machine at the Ottawa Hospital is revolutionizing cancer treatments. CTV’s Peter Szperling reports.

The Ottawa Hospital has a new advanced tool to help cancer patients that combines imaging with treatment.

Launched in June, an MR-Linac machine allows the hospital’s oncology team to target cancer with accuracy, even as the tumour moves inside the patient’s body during their treatment session.

“One of the most important parts of radiation therapy for us is actually aiming at the right spot. Historically, we had a lot of trouble doing that because different parts of the body can change shape,” says Dr. Marc Gaudet, head of radiation oncology at the Ottawa Hospital.

MR-Linac essentially combines two machines common in hospitals – one that’s used to take images inside the body, coupled with one that delivers precise radiation treatments.

“What this machine actually does is it combines MRI imaging with live treatment. So, we can actually get a live MRI during treatment and actually be able to track things moving during radiation treatment with some of the most sophisticated imaging that we can get. It makes the treatment much more precise, makes it much more concentrated, and actually avoids side effects for patients.”

Gaudet says it can also provide treatment where options didn’t exist before.

“Certain types of tumors that actually move so much that we couldn’t treat before, machines like this can actually allow new treatment that we would have been unable to do otherwise.”

He says technology has come a long way in the past 20 years, from looking at 2D film to now live MRI video imaging. “I call this Star Trek,” he says.

The $10-million machine is one of only a handful found in Canada.

“For the first time, we’re able to combine precise imaging and precise delivery of radiation in one system,” says Dr. Miller MacPherson, head of physics at the Ottawa Hospital.

“For patients, it means a couple of things. One, there are new capabilities on the horizon. So, patients who were not able to receive treatment might be eligible for treatment on this machine. Two, we envision less-toxic treatments because we can better aim the radiation. And three, we know that tumors change shape during the course of their therapy. Now, we can see the shape and position of the tumour really well every day before the beam turns on. So, we can use that information to adapt the radiotherapy plan.”

Since June, about a dozen prostate cancer patients have received treatment using the MR-Linac. The hope, according to MacPherson, is to expand treatment to other cancers and around 250 patients per year.

“The doctors I’ve been speaking to envision more upper abdomen kind of treatments—pancreas, liver, those kinds of things—where the ability to track the motion of the tumour… becomes very important, along with the ability to visualize the tumour against all the other things that are very sensitive in that area.”

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