Hackensack Meridian Health Among First Hospitals to Provide BgRT Treatment Opening a New Option for Stage IV Cancer

John Theurer Cancer Center 6th Site in the World to Adopt RefleXion®X1 Precision Radiation Treatment

John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center will soon launch RefleXion®X1 BgRT targeted radiation therapy in clinical care. The center is the sixth site worldwide to adopt this precision treatment.

BgRT uses a tumor’s biology to grid radiation beamlets and accommodate subtle movements, such as breathing and muscle flexing, by signaling the treatment to move with the tumor target. This approach spares more healthy tissue than traditional radiation therapies that target a larger circle of healthy tissue around the tumor to accommodate tumor movement.

Using a common tracer and PET imaging, BgRT uses the biology of the tumor to provide constant, live feedback on the tumor’s location to guide the stereotactic radiation delivery. Greater precision may allow delivery of a higher radiation dose to the targeted tumor or allocation of a portion of the allowed radiation dose to a different tumor site. BgRT can accommodate multiple tumors in a single session and offers a new option for metastatic cases.

“As the next step in treatment evolution, we now have a machine that treats multiple targets in the same session using the biology of the tumor for guidance,” said Adnan F. Danish, M.D., a radiation oncologist at John Theurer Cancer Center and Chief of Radiation Oncology at St. Joseph's Health, in partnership with Hackensack Meridian.

The treatment also opens new options to enhance immunotherapy, which can be more successful after the immune system is “primed” by radiation treatment, Dr. Danish said.

Learn more about cancer care innovations at Hackensack University Medical Center.