First simulated patient treatment performed in Hospital-based BNCT Facility in Europe

FINLAND – -Neutron Therapeutics, a targeted radiation therapy company developing Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), and Cosylab have announced that Neutron Therapeutics’ nuBeam BNCT System, has reached an important milestone in its clinical commissioning at Helsinki University Hospital – first simulated patient treatment.

BNCT is a type of targeted radiation cancer therapy in which neutron beams destroy only tumors containing boron compounds while leaving healthy tissue alone.

In BNCT, a boron-containing substance is injected into a blood vessel, and allowed to accumulate in tumor cells.

The patient is then given radiation therapy using atomic particles known as neutrons. The neutrons react with the boron to kill tumor cells while leaving normal cells alone.

Boron neutron capture therapy is being investigated as a potential treatment for glioblastoma multiforme and recurrent head and neck cancer.

When compared to other radiation, chemotherapy, or biological treatment modalities currently in use, BNCT has the potential to deliver highly effective and cell-localized radiation therapy to treat tumors with minimal impact on the patient’s quality of life.

Neutron Therapeutics Inc. and Helsinki University Hospital are teaming up to open Europe’s first hospital-based BNCT facility.

Cosylab is a trusted partner with more than two decades of experience addressing complex software challenges in radiation therapy.

The first simulated patient treatment was performed at the Helsinki nuBeam installation using Cosylab’s OncologyOne software, the market’s only solution that addresses all aspects of a radiation therapy device.

Cosylab provides software products and services to the largest medical device manufacturers and cancer centres worldwide.

It has already proven itself in other cutting-edge radiation therapy modalities, such as proton therapy, and brings to the nuBeam system a radiation therapy software solution that is far more easily upgradable and integrable than custom-built software, while ensuring the shortest time-to-clinical-use.

Patients with inoperable, locally recurrent head, neck, and other cancers incurable with conventional radiation therapy are now much closer to benefiting from boron neutron capture therapy.

Thanks to ongoing clinical verification and validation testing of the nuBeam system at Helsinki University Hospital.

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