Cnao is the only centre in Italy able to provide hadrontherapy treatments using protons and carbon ions
12/08/2024 – by Monica Guerci
Precision hadrontherapy against tumors is increasingly personalized and effective for each patient, fighting tumors that are inoperable or resistant to traditional radiotherapy treatments. These are the guidelines of the collaboration between Cnao in Pavia, HiFuture (part of the Teoresi Group) and the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Infn), which has led, through the INSpIRIT project, to a significant improvement of the synchrotron, the particle accelerator of Cnao in Pavia. Cnao is the only center in Italy capable of providing hadrontherapy treatments using protons and carbon ions. In the world, there are only six facilities capable of doing so, one of which is CNAO in Pavia.
What is hadrontherapy?
Hadrontherapy is an advanced form of radiotherapy that, instead of using X-rays, uses protons and carbon ions. These particles are heavier and have more energy than electrons, making them even more effective in treating some tumors. Hadrontherapy is particularly suitable for the treatment of radioresistant tumors, that is, those that do not respond to traditional radiotherapy with X-rays, or for inoperable tumors.
Since 2014, it has been part of the National Health System and, since 2017, included in the Essential Levels of Assistance. The INSpIRIT project, with a total value of 10 million euros, of which 3.8 million financed by the Lombardy Region, saw HiFuture contribute with three key tasks: the control of the new hadronic source of the synchrotron, the creation of new controllers for the linear accelerator magnets and the validation of the software for dose delivery.
Personalized care
This new source can produce different ion species useful for radiotherapy treatments and radiobiological studies. “The upgrade has made the Cnao synchrotron even more efficient. The introduction of the third source will also allow the production of beams that, in the future, could lead to a increasingly personalized approach on the individual patient, based on the oncological pathology, even for particularly difficult tumors. A new weapon to defeat cancer, he explained Luciano Falbor, project manager.
Perspectives
The new source, created with the fundamental contribution of the “Laboratori Nazionali del Sud” of the Infs and the Infs Section of Pavia, is able to produce various ionic species. Specifically, it will be used for the production of helium, oxygen and lithium, which have different radiobiological characteristics compared to protons and carbon ions and, therefore, are of considerable interest for radiotherapy treatments as well as for radiobiological studies.
The source will also be used for the production of iron ionsa species of considerable interest from an aerospace point of view: the iron beam will, in fact, be used in experiments on irradiating materials to be used in the construction of devices employed in space missions. Oscar Adriani of the Infs highlighted that the new source doubles or triples the performance compared to the previous ones, opening up new clinical treatments and industrial applications. Luigi Zoccolante, CEO of HiFuture, underlined the importance of these alliances for the development of frontier technologies in the oncology sector.
