by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | April 03, 2023
The FAST-02 FLASH Proton therapy trial has begun on patients with bone cancer of the chest. (Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Children's / UC Medical Center Proton Therapy Center)
The first of 10 adults has undergone FLASH proton therapy for bone cancer of the chest at the Cincinnati Children's/University of Cincinnati Medical Center Proton Therapy Center.
The FAST-02 study, (which stands for FeAsibility Study of FLASH Radiotherapy for the Treatment of Symptomatic Bone Metastases) is a follow-up to last year's FAST-01 study, which was the world’s first FLASH proton therapy clinical trial in which 10 people with bone tumors in the arms and legs
were treated with FLASH therapy which delivers doses more than 300 times that of photon radiotherapy in less than one second.
"Our goal is to establish a foundation for future potential trials in brain tumors, sarcomas, lymphomas, lung cancer, and other malignancies,” said Dr. John Perentesis, research director of the Proton Therapy Center and director of oncology and cancer programs at Cincinnati Children's, in a statement.
In the FAST-01 study, the researchers treated 12 metastatic sites with a Varian ProBeam particle accelerator. A single fraction consisted of 8 Gy of radiation and was delivered at ≥40 Gy per second.
The findings indicated that FLASH therapy reduced pain and potentially side effects associated with photon radiation, lining up with preclinical animal findings.
Monitoring effects for one year afterwards, they found that seven patients experienced complete pain relief in six sites and partially in two others, and temporary pain flares in four.
They presented their findings in October at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, and said that they would test the safety and efficacy of the treatment in patients with tumors closer to the lungs and heart in the FAST-02 trial.
The $126 million Proton Therapy Center on the Liberty Campus of Cincinnati Children’s is one of the only few facilities worldwide that can treat patients with FLASH proton therapy in a clinical setting.
It has a $24 million research facility that includes integrated laboratories and a fully operational proton treatment room used exclusively for research, as well as two clinical proton therapy rooms for treating more than 30 types of cancer in adults and children.
