Adaptive radiotherapy excels at treating tumors located near critical organs, tumors that move when you breathe, and tumors that shrink rapidly during treatment.
The prostate gland sits between the bladder and rectum, both of which change size dramatically day to day based on digestion and hydration.
Challenge: A static plan must add wide margins to account for this movement, exposing the bladder and rectum to radiation.
Solution: Adaptive radiotherapy tracks these daily shifts, allowing a curative dose to be delivered to the prostate in as few as 5 sessions (SBRT) while protecting the surrounding organs.
Supporting trials: HERMES (NCT04172923), DESTINATION 2 (NCT04272489), ASPIRE (NCT03815019)
Lung tumors present a unique challenge: they move constantly as you breathe, and they often shrink rapidly during treatment.
Solution: Daily adaptation and motion management ensure the beam follows the tumor exactly, protecting healthy lung and helping preserve respiratory function.
Tumors in the abdomen are surrounded by highly sensitive organs such as the stomach and intestines.
Solution: By precisely monitoring the daily position of these critical organs, adaptive therapy can safely escalate the dose toward a curative level.
Supporting trials: SMART Pancreas (NCT02621229), MR-guided Liver SBRT (NCT02683200)
When cancer spreads to the brain, extreme precision is required to protect cognitive function, vision, and the brainstem.
Solution: Adaptive stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) targets multiple metastases with sub-millimeter accuracy, usually in 1 to 5 sessions.
Supporting trials: UNITED (NCT03713385), UNITED-3 (NCT04172753)
Patients with head and neck cancers often experience significant weight loss and tumor shrinkage during a multi-week course of treatment.
Solution: Adapting the plan as the anatomy changes keeps the dose on the tumor and helps preserve swallowing, saliva production, and quality of life.
Supporting trial: MSK Adaptive H&N Study (NCT03096808)
For patients whose cancer has spread to a limited number of sites, focused radiation can play a powerful, non-invasive role.
Solution: Adaptive radiotherapy can target lesions in the bones, lymph nodes, or organs with precision, helping bring limited-spread disease under control quickly.