FLASH therapy

2020: Varian began the first-ever clinical trials of FLASH therapy for cancer therapy

In the middle of October, 2020 the Varian Medical Systems company began the first-ever clinical trials of devices for FLASH therapy. Developers hope that favorable results of tests will allow to use everywhere new approach to radiation therapy using an ultrahigh dose of radiation lasting less than a second which allows to destroy cancer cells with the minimum ghost effects.

In the research which received name FAST-01 the accelerator of proton particles ProBeam of Varian company modified by the special module with a possibility of carrying out FLASH therapy will be used. The research will include 10 patients with bone metastases. Under assumptions of the company, the new technology is capable to result more than 100 times quicker in desirable result, than traditional radiation therapy.

Varian started clinical trials of FLASH therapy for cancer therapy

Preclinical researches showed that such treatment causes smaller damage to surrounding healthy fabrics. The company cooperated with radiological department of Medical school of the University of Maryland during the preclinical researches according to which use of FLASH therapy reduces damages of pulmonary fabric by 25–30% and on average reduces severity of skin dermatitis at mice by 35%.

Researches of the company are supported by consortium FLASHForward which includes 20 organizations from around the world, including specialists in the field of oncology and medical physics. Varian expects that the first patient in the research FAST-01 will be registered by the end of 2020. Within the research feasibility of the procedure in clinical conditions, the ghost effects connected with treatment and the efficiency of treatment measured on use of anesthetics will be estimated. The company hopes that FLASH therapy "can become one of the most considerable achievements in cancer therapy for the last decades".^[1]

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