December 28, 2017

Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. (President and CEO: Shunsuke Betsukawa)（“Sumitomo” ) and RaySearch laboratories, AB (CEO: Johan Löf, Stockholm, Sweden) (“RaySearch”) have entered into an agreement regarding a treatment planning for a boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Sumitomo’s proton therapy system is already used with RayStation. And now, it is expanded to BNCT together with RaySearch. Sumitomo is now developing a treatment planning system for BNCT named “SACRA planning ®”. Sumitomo believes that the cooperation with RaySearch enables Sumitomo to provide the best treatment planning system for the users. SACRA planning will be launched together with a world’s first accelerator based BNCT system, which is now under the clinical trial in Japan, by Sumitomo.


BNCT is unique treatment modality for cancers by using a nuclear reaction between a thermal neutron and a Boron-10 (B10) nuclide, and by concentrating the B10 compound in cancer cells in advance, only such cancer cells will be destroyed selectively without damages to healthy tissues. The BNCT has been performed at research reactor facilities to get a neutron beam so far. It was difficult for customers to have such reactor facility in the hospital. Now, Sumitomo is developing an accelerator based BNCT system under the collaboration with Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute for the user to enable installing the system in the hospital.

＜About RayStation and RaySearch＞
RayStation is an advanced treatment planning system which has been marketed by RaySearch Laboratories (Stockholm, Sweden), who is a medical technology company that develops advanced software solutions for improved radiation therapy of cancer. RayStation is used at clinics all over the world in good reputation because of its flexible platform with advanced tools including optimization tool. RaySearch’s products are distributed through licensing agreements with leading medical technology companies. RaySearch’s software is used by over 2,600 clinics in more than 65 countries. RaySearch was founded in 2000 as a spin-off from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.