19th Seminar of HITRIplus - Hadrontherapy in Caen-Normandy

Monday 24 Feb 2025, 17:00 → 18:05 Europe/Zurich

ZOOM

Angelica Facoetti (CNAO Foundation), Manjit Dosanjh (University of Oxford (GB))

Global general scientific seminars linked to the HITRIplus project activities organised in the context of WP2 Networking, Communication, and Dissemination.

To apply for beamtime, please follow the instructions on this page: https://hitriplus.eu/transnational-access/ 

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Jean-Louis Habrand:

Pr Jean-Louis HABRAND is Emeritus professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Caen- Western Normandy (Fr), and a senior consultant in hadrontherapy. Until 2019, he was Head of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Comprehensive Cancer Center François Baclesse, in Caen, and Medical Director of the Proton Therapy program (CYCLHAD center). He was formerly chief of the Breast/Sarcomas, and Pediatric units in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Gustave Roussy Institute (IGR) in Paris/Villejuif (the largest oncology centre in Europe). At that time, he implemented the first high-energy proton therapy program in France in 1991, the CPO Center, located on the campus of the Paris-Orsay (Paris-South) University, a project mainly supported by IGR and the Curie Institute, in Paris. He is considered one of the pioneers dealing with modern radiation oncology in children, especially based on proton therapy. He has authored or co-authored over 250 publications, 40 book chapters, and 300 presentations. During his career, he held multiple international responsibilities, especially at SIOP (International Society of Pediatric Oncology), and PTCOG (Particle Therapy Oncology Group) being among its founding members, in Boston (1985). He will host in June 2026, the annual PTCOG meeting, in Normandy (Caen and Deauville). 

Gabriel Gaubert:

Gabriel Gaubert, an engineer in scientific instrumentation, worked for over ten years at GANIL on ECR ion sources for radioactive ion beam production. In 2008, he joined PANTECHNIK to develop these sources for proton and carbon therapy worldwide. He collaborated closely with Asia and Europe on projects like HIT, MIT, CNAO, and MedAustron. Since 2019, he has been the CEO of CYCLHAD, a private company dedicated to cyclotron-based accelerators. CYCLHAD provides ion beams for multidisciplinary research and cancer treatment.

Virgile Letellier:

Virgile Letellier is a medical physicist specialized in particle therapy, particularly in carbon-ion radiation therapy. He has a solid educational foundation in physics and medical engineering in France at the University of Marseille and Lyon. In 2011, he started his research and development studies about pencil beam scanning dosimetry and Monte Carlo simulations at the Curie Institute in Paris. Then he joined the early medical physics team involved in designing and commissioning the heavy ion beam delivery system of MedAustron in Austria. He joined the private sector in 2014 firstly to optimize the proton ultra-high dose rate nozzle project at Sigmaphi and then joined Normandy Hadrontherapy in 2022 as head of the medical physics department. 

His innovative developments have significantly advanced the precision of dose delivery and the dosimetry equipment in particle therapy, helping to minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue while maximizing tumour control.

17:00 → 17:15 Three Decades of Charged Particles Therapy in France

Following preliminary investigations in the 80s, on neutron therapy (Centre Hospitalier La Source, Orléans), with approx 1,000 pts treated, protontherapy (PT) has developed since 1991 in Nice (low energy, MEDICYC project, Centre Antoine Lacassagne), and Paris (low & high energy, CPO, University of Paris-South/Orsay). Active ocular programs were implemented initially, followed by deep-seated intra and later extracranial conditions, including pioneering pediatric protocols in children, in Paris (1995). More recently, dedicated modern equipments dealing with isocentric gantries and spot-scanning technology have been made available in Paris (ICPO, 2010), and Nice (IMPT, 2017) with a total of >12,000 pts and 8,000 pts managed, respectively. The CYCLHAD Center (and affiliated ARCHADE research program) in Caen (Normandy), opened in 2019, has been designed as an ambitious two-step model: 1/ An IBA Proteus-One solution for PT with > 1,000 pts treated so far, followed by 2/ An innovative concept of cyclotron dedicated to heavy ions (and protons): the C400. These projects have benefited from the support of the French Ministry of Health (patients medical care), the French Ministry of Research (including the National France-Hadron program), UNICANCER (French Federation of Cancer Centers), and Regional and European grants.

Speaker: Prof. Jean-Louis Habrand (Centre Baclesse)

17:15 → 17:30 The CYCLHAD facility, present and future

Since 2018, CYCLHAD has been engaged in research and development activities in proton therapy. A new milestone is currently underway to enable expanded heavy ions like carbon ion therapy capabilities by 2027, promising even more precise and effective cancer treatments. The unique set-up combining access to proton, helium and carbon ion, is described from proton therapy deployment with the P-One single room system to the future possibilities to come with the new C400 machine from NHA delivering heavy ion beams.

Speaker: Mr Gabriel Gaubert (CYCLHAD)

17:30 → 17:45 THE C400 IONS, THE INNOVATIVE MULTI-ION CYCLOTRON BY NHA. PROJECT AND INSTALLATION STATUS

The C400 IONS system is the first multi-ion therapy system based on a cyclotron worldwide. The Normandy Hadronthery (NHa) company designs, produces, and markets this new multi-ion radiotherapy system while IBA experts are deeply involved in all aspects of its conception. The first installation is ongoing in Caen - France and the first beam delivery is foreseen in 2026.

The C400 IONS is an innovative system developed on a 400 MeV/u isochronous cyclotron, it can generate a high dose rate of carbon ions, protons and helium ions. The beam delivery and treatment room design of this multi-ion treatment system is based on the IBA Proteus®PLUS equipment. The C400 IONS fixed horizontal beamlines use pencil beam scanning technology and provide, e.g., planar imaging, a 6D robotic patient positioning system coupled with either a couch or a chair, and specific accessories like a ripple filter.

This new multi-particle radiotherapy system inherits and improves on many proven technologies and the latest innovations developed for the IBA Proton Therapy systems. In this presentation, we will focus specifically on the latest developments around the C400 cyclotron technology, and the latest specifications in terms of isocenter beam performances. A status report of the project, with an overview of the ongoing installation and foreseen milestones will also be given.

Speaker: Virgile Letellier

17:45 → 18:05 Discussion