Medical College of Wisconsin Physicians and Researchers Launch International Study of Breakthrough Cancer Treatment Technology

MOMENTUM study will collect data from treatment with Elekta Unity MR-linac to improve outcomes for cancer patients

News provided by

Apr 30, 2019, 10:43 ET

MILWAUKEE, April 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) physicians and researchers from the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert Hospital launched the MOMENTUM study (Multiple Outcome Evaluation of Radiation Therapy Using the MR-Linac) to generate and evaluate data that enable safe, fast and, above all, 'evidence-based' introduction of magnetic resonance radiation therapy (MR/RT) into clinical practice. The study will collect data including treatment, tumor control rates, quality of life and other outcomes measures from patients being imaged and/or treated on Elekta Unity, the world's only high-field MR/RT system.

MCW physicians and researchers are one of the seven founding members of the originating MR-linac Consortium, a global consortium of cancer institutions. Consortium members are collaborating on the MOMENTUM study and together these institutions will collect data from about 6,000 patients over a five-year span.

"The MOMENTUM study takes a unique approach in that it is prospectively collecting data from this new piece of treatment technology, versus waiting until after the technology has been implemented into the clinic, which is usually the case," said William A. Hall, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin and one of the principal investigators of the MOMENTUM study. "Having this data sooner will allow Elekta to improve Unity MR-linac technology and to faster accelerate clinical innovations."

The Unity MR-linac is the first high-field MR-linac technology in the world to simultaneously generate diagnostic quality magnetic resonance images and deliver high-dose radiation beams. It allows radiotherapy to be adjusted in real time and to be delivered more accurately than ever before. It is especially helpful for patients with tumors that are difficult to treat with radiation therapy, such as a tumor in the lung or upper abdomen that moves with each breath, or one close to radiation-sensitive organs such as the stomach, kidney, heart, spinal cord or brain.

The Froedtert & MCW Clinical Cancer Center, with its globally esteemed reputation and expertise of innovation and leadership in the field of imaging, was the second U.S. and fifth global site to install the MR-linac system. Originating members of the MR-linac Consortium include University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands; The Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, the Netherlands; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA; the Institute of Cancer Research, working with its clinical partner The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert Hospital, USA; The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Odette Cancer Centre, and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Canada.

For more information, visit http://www.mcw.edu.

SOURCE Medical College of Wisconsin