Swedish radiation therapy company Elekta and Dutch technology giant Royal Philips said Thursday that the Institute of Cancer Research and its clinical partner, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, will join the Elekta MR Linac Research Consortium in its effort to develop an integrated MRI guided radiation therapy system.

Marrying an advanced digital linear accelerator with an MRI system would greatly enhance real-time visualization of cancer targets during the delivery of therapeutic radiation, the companies said.

ICR is the sixth entity to join the consortium. Also participating in the project are University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, the Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center in Milwaukee.

London-based ICR will initially focus on pelvic malignancies for MRI-guided radiation research, the companies said, noting that the pelvic area provides excellent soft tissue contrast for MR images directly before or during treatment, allowing for enhanced treatment options. — Kellen Owings

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