Study shows MRI-guided adaptive radiotherapy with Elekta Unity improves patient-reported urinary symptoms in men with prostate cancer
Data from an international registry confirms that tracking changes in prostate anatomy and adjusting radiation at each treatment session can lead to better long-term quality of life
SAN FRANCISCO – Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) today announced that use of its MRI adaptive radiation therapy platform, Elekta Unity, is associated with improved quality of life among men with localized prostate cancer, the most common cancer among men in higher-resourced countries. Results from the study, Daily Online Adaptive Recontouring for Prostate Cancer Using 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Image Guidance (MRgRT) Improves Patient Reported Urinary Symptoms (NCT04075305)1, were presented by William A. Hall, MD, Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), at the 2025 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting, held September 27-October 1 in San Francisco, California.
The findings highlight the system’s ability to visualize complex changes in prostate anatomy during therapy. This enables clinicians to create and deliver treatments that reflect the actual anatomy at the time of treatment. The more personalized radiation delivery strategy, called MR-guided adaptive therapy, translated into improvements in urinary irritation symptoms. The benefits in quality of life were sustained over the entire year that patients were observed in this study.
This study included 630 patients who were recruited into the MOMENTUM (NCT04075305) study, an international prospective registry of the MR-Linac Consortium. Patients in this analysis were treated at 12 centers in North America and Europe using a standard regimen that involved five treatment sessions over two weeks. Half of the patients were treated with MR-guidance but without adapting to daily anatomic changes and the other half were treated using an MR-guided adaptive strategy. Quality of life was measured using standardized surveys that were sent to men before and after treatment.
According to Dr. Hall, Elekta Unity’s high-field MRI is generating new insights into how the prostate changes shape over the course of treatment. “Unity enables us to see changes that we did not know were occurring during therapy,” says Dr. Hall. “One of the most surprising results of our analysis was just how much the prostate changes shape during treatment. As a clinician who cares for prostate cancer patients, I am very reassured that with Unity I can do something about these changes.”
“This study represents an important contribution to our understanding of what is happening during prostate cancer radiation and how we can preserve a man’s quality of life after treatment,” says John Christodouleas, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs, Elekta. “This work is the product of an extraordinary collaboration between clinicians and researchers of the MR-Linac Consortium. We are deeply gratified to be working shoulder to shoulder with people who are so committed to developing and validating the very best treatments for cancer patients.”
1Hall, William A., et al. “Daily Online Adaptive Recontouring for Prostate Cancer Using 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Image Guidance (MRgRT) Improves Patient Reported Urinary Symptoms.” Presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, Sept. 27–Oct. 1, 2025.
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As a leader in precision radiation therapy, Elekta is committed to ensuring every patient has access to the best cancer care possible. We openly collaborate with customers to advance sustainable, outcome-driven and cost-efficient solutions to meet evolving patient needs, improve lives and bring hope to everyone dealing with cancer. To us, it's personal, and our global team of 4,500 employees combine passion, science, and imagination to profoundly change cancer care. We don’t just build technology, we build hope. Elekta is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in more than 40 countries and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. For more information, visit elekta.com.