DKTK Core Facilities: Radiation Oncology
The Proton Therapy Facility Dresden (UPT)
Dresden offers a proton experimental and clinical research facility. The clinical gantry is open for patient studies since December 2014. At first focus was given on the treatment of different pediatric cancers, tumors of the base scull, tumors close to the spinal cord, brain tumors and prostate cancer. Gradually more and more clinical studies are conducted for the proton treatment of additive tumor entities, e.g. for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, gastro intestinal cancer (i.e. HCC, PDAC) or thoracic malignancies. Furthermore proton therapy is used to treat individual tumors with complicated positions that cannot or only insufficiently be treated with conventional photon therapy or for the secondary treatment (re-irradiation) of tumors with a high risk for severe side effects using conventional photon therapy.
The Dresden experimental proton facility enables physics and engineering experiments as well as biology experiments. Translational radiobiological experiments with protons on relative biological effectiveness and combined treatment schedules are in progress since 2015. These biological experiments are performed in comparison to standard clinical photon beams, to a range of novel ion beams provided in Heidelberg and to innovative beams developed at laser basis at the Helmholtz Center Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). Together with the DKTK particle centers Heidelberg and Essen clinical co-operation projects are in progress, e.g. dosimetric and modelling studies for preparation of clinical trials. Furthermore, clinical protocols were developed and started as well as dosimetric site comparisons were initiated. International network formation with non-DKTK European particle sites and other partners (e.g. CERN, ESTRO, EORTC) has been initiated and these interactions to study groups and partner centers beyond DKTK will be strengthened.
The co-operation with the Heidelberg and Essen particle centers within the DKTK consortium provides a worldwide unique partnership for generating valid particle data also for rare tumors and for the establishment of the consortium in an internationally leading position in this specific field of clinical cancer research. Added value comes from the increased sample size, methodology portfolio as well as positioning of the consortium in international networks and study groups.