Smilow announces first administration of unprecedented radiotherapy treatment

Novel approach combines RefleXion’s SCINTIX therapy to track tumor motion for precise radiation delivery with stereotactic body radiotherapy

New Haven, CT (Sept. 5, 2024) – Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven today announced they successfully delivered the world’s first radiotherapy treatment plan that efficiently combines different radiotherapy modalities to treat a patient with metastatic cancer.

Multi-target treatment (MTT) enables physicians to combine SCINTIX^® biology-guided radiotherapy, a new modality for tumors in the lung or bone, with conventional stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for solid tumors in other body locations.

"By integrating different treatment modalities within the same plan, we can tailor an optimal treatment approach for each tumor,” said Henry S. Park, MD, MPH, chief, Biology-guided Radiotherapy Program, Therapeutic Radiology at Yale School of Medicine and radiation oncologist, Smilow Cancer Hospital. “For this patient, SCINTIX therapy treated the moving lung tumor, while SBRT targeted a static tumor elsewhere in the body.”

“It was equally groundbreaking to visually confirm that the SCINTIX treatment responded to the tumor’s motion and delivered the dose precisely as planned. With conventional radiotherapy, once treatment commences, there is no visual assurance of what is happening inside the patient,” he continued.

SCINTIX therapy is the first and only radiotherapy that allows each cancer’s unique biology to autonomously determine where to deliver radiation during actual treatment delivery. The technology uses positron emission tomography (PET) data produced by the tumor to react to expected motion from internal processes such as breathing, and unexpected motion caused by patient movement. The X1 also delivers state-of-the-art conventional SBRT for solid tumors located anywhere in the body. It is the only dual-treatment modality platform that can treat patients with indicated solid tumors of any stage, including stage 4 cancer.

The ability to monitor real-time data, which has never been possible before, ensures that SCINTIX treatment is progressing as expected. The entire hybrid MTT plan is delivered in five or fewer fractions.

In the past, treating multiple targets had been challenging due to the way traditional radiation therapy is delivered, but SCINTIX has provided an effective way to treat multiple tumors seen in PET scans.

Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven is one of the nation’s pre-eminent cancer hospitals, Connecticut’s largest provider of cancer care and the only comprehensive cancer facility in southern New England. In addition to the flagship Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven, Smilow offers state-of-the-art cancer services at 16 locations throughout the region – including Greenwich. Partnering with Yale Cancer Center, Smilow Cancer Hospital offers the very latest care, delivered by some of the nation’s most prominent and highly respected physicians and nurses. A leader in groundbreaking academic medicine, Smilow provides access to more than 300 clinical trials – bringing innovation and new hope to patients each year, including access to Phase I trials.  

Yale Cancer Center(YCC) is one of only 56 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation and the only such center in Connecticut. Cancer treatment for patients is available at Smilow Cancer Hospital through 13 multidisciplinary teams and at its 16 locations in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Comprehensive cancer centers play a vital role in the advancement of the NCI’s goal of reducing morbidity and mortality from cancer through scientific research, cancer prevention, and innovative cancer treatment.

Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), part of Yale New Haven Health, is a nationally recognized, 1,541-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine (YSM). Founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826, today, YNHH has two New Haven-based campuses, and also includes Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and Smilow Cancer Hospital. YNHH has received Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence. YNHH has a combined medical staff of about 4,500 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. www.ynhh.org