ESTRO 2025- bringing upright radiotherapy to Europe

This years annual meeting for ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology) brought us back to the beautiful city of Vienna. 

The theme for this year was ‘Transformative innovation through partnership’ which could not be a more perfect theme for Leo Cancer Care. We pride ourselves on being a disruptive influence on the radiotherapy market with our pioneering innovative technology and it is the partnerships that we have with other companies and institutions that has driven this technology forward to where it is now, one step closer to treating the first patient. 

ESTRO 2025 was held over the bank holiday weekend in May. Saturday to Monday the exhibition hall doors were wide open for visitors to experience what the industry has to offer in all areas of Oncology. Vendors were able to showcase their technology, educate others on their area of interest and connect with individuals, institutions and other industry partners.  

We have seen interest in our technology increase each year that we attend this event, as our company grows and awareness of upright radiotherapy increases too. This year was our busiest ESTRO with hundreds of people visiting the booth to be introduced to our technology and discuss upright radiotherapy. We had 184 people sit in the system itself and be set up for treatment. Visitors were able to feel for themselves what a patient would when attending for treatment. This is something unique that we offer at shows as it allows visitors to really understand how this technology works and it answers many of their initial questions regarding stability, accessibility and patient comfort. 

Partnership talks 

Joining us on the Leo Cancer Care booth were members of MEVION Medical Systems introducing their product the S250-FIT to Europe for the first time. Curt Kienast, Chief Operating Officer gave a fantastic presentation titled “From LINAC to Protons: Transforming Treatment Spaces with MEVION S250 FIT. Curt really drew the crowds in with this talk sharing why MEVION decided to invest in upright technology and why they are confident it is the future of proton therapy.

Also joining us on the booth to present was Erik Engwall from RaySearch Laboratories. His talk “The Upright Advantage: Unlocking New Potentials with Arc Therapy” introduced everyone to the full capabilities of upright treatments showing that upright doesn’t limit treatment options but actually unlocks treatment capabilities such as particle arc therapy which has been hindered in the supine position due to complexity in rotating +100 ton particle gantries.  

Live demonstrations 

We hosted daily demonstrations by Kate and Jemma both qualified radiotherapists working at Leo Cancer Care. They showed how easy it is to set up a patient for treatment in an upright position, whether they are having head and neck treatment, breast or pelvic treatment. They discussed the reduced manual handling needs of having a patient upright and also how upright treatments has the potential to improve patient workflow.

Announcements 

Whilst at ESTRO we made some very exciting announcements including Leo Cancer Care France and Centre Léon Bérard being awarded a prestigious FEDER grant, to be used specifically to advance Upright Radiation therapy in France. This grant will support the Marie system being integrated into the center to support their ongoing research into upright treatments. 

Also announced was that our Marie system is now 510k pending, this exciting development means we are another step closer to fulfilling our dream of treating a patient upright using our technology. 

We proudly introduced the CQ Medical head and neck board to the world for the very first time. This is the first time it has been seen in its finished form and was an important part of our daily live demonstrations. It was a great talking point, especially amongst clinical staff who attended ESTRO. 

Hot topic 

It was not just the Leo Cancer Care team who drew in the crowds to discuss upright radiotherapy. There were a number of posters displayed as well talks, debates and panel discussions surrounding or including upright research and technology. 

In the session titled “Future of proton therapy: Which Innovation will have the biggest impact?” Ye Zhang gave a talk on upright proton therapy, how it combines technical innovation with practical efficiency to cut costs and improve workflow. 

The final votes from the audience were 26% saying upright radiotherapy will be the most impactful innovation in proton therapy, just behind proton arc at 27% voting in favor of this.  

Sophie Boisbouvier gave a very passionate talk in a debate on whether rigorous immobilization is still needed in radiotherapy. She argued in favor of still using this form of immobilization, noting that patient comfort, as prioritized in upright treatments, is vital in helping patients stay still. But we must acknowledge that not all centers have online adaptive radiotherapy and SGRT to ensure treatment accuracy; therefore, we still need rigid immobilization to ensure treatment accuracy.

James Korte from the Peter MacCallum team presented the preliminary imaging and positioning results from a clinical trial on upright CBCT on a C-arm linac. Initial results show upright CBCT allows for visualization of key structures with adequate geometric accuracy and stability, and the reproducibility of the patients’ upright was comparable to those in the supine position.  

Posters presented included topics such as upright image-guide adaptive proton therapy in head and neck malignancies, shoot-through protons with 20-direcction arc to improve plans for upright treatments, spirometry and breath-holds for upright  thoracic treatments and exploring beam access for upright photon breast treatments. 

Returning for more 

Yet again, upright radiotherapy has been a topic that cannot be silenced, before it was an idea, now it is providing data and results that support its place at shows like this. 

We have allowed ourselves a short moment to reflect on all the great discussions we had over that long weekend and the new connections we have made. 

But we now move on to our next event, the 63rd Annual PTCOG conference on 2-7th June in Buenos Aires. See you in Argentina!