Centre Léon Bérard is an academic institution that is dedicated to cancer care, research and education. They have a patient-first ethos and continually innovate to advance clinical practices and improve the patient experience.
In partnership with Leo Cancer Care, Centre Léon Bérard is working to build upon existing research that has highlighted a number of potential benefits in utilising the upright position for upright radiotherapy. The research project has been split into three phases, the first phase is focused on evaluating the workflow efficiencies and patient experience, the second phase will test the accuracy of the positioning system and the third phase will evaluate how effective reproducibility of set-up is in the upright orientation.
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Upright patient positioning for pelvic radiotherapy treatments
Radiotherapy is typically delivered in supine position. However, upright positioning may affect organ volume, positioning, and movement, compared to supine/prone positioning which might have beneficial impacts. In this study, we report patient positioning data in an upright positioning system designed by Leo Cancer Care®.
“Human beings are ‘standing living creatures’; the upright patient positioning is much more in keeping with our physiology than the supine position and brings us potential opportunities to further improve the dose distribution, and thus patient’s outcome. It’s challenging, but exciting, to be the first centre in the world to contribute to the validation of a new paradigm in radiotherapy treatment”.
Professor Vincent Gregoire, Head of the Radiation Oncology, Centre Léon Bérard