Real-time Adaptive Particle Therapy of Cancer (RAPTOR)
RAPTOR brings together 13 Beneficiaries and 15 partner organizations with one aim in common: To bring adaptive particle therapy to the clinic.
Introduction
The high precision of PT comes as a double-edged sword since PT is normally less robust than X-ray radiotherapy. Several uncertainties, such as changes in anatomy, positioning, organ delineation and systematic uncertainties can have a significant impact on where the final dose is delivered. The reliability of PT has increased in recent years with robust treatment planning, however, it still remains sensitive to larger uncertainties that have to be minimized to exploit the full benefit of PT.
The clinical workflow in PT has been adopted from conventional X-ray radiotherapy, where the treatment plan is based on the initial computed tomography (CT) scan of a patient. Since, the treatment usually lasts several weeks, it is likely that the initial treatment plan becomes less valid due to the changes of the patient anatomy as the treatment progresses.
We propose a shift in the paradigm
- Preparing a daily PT treatment plan for each patient, that is based on current patient images, would significantly increase treatment accuracy since most of the uncertainties would be minimized.
- The advantages of PT could be better utilized in an interventional capacity.
- Due to its flexibility and rapid adaptation, RAPTOR will enable treating patients in the sitting and standing positions, which will facilitate simpler, more compact, and less costly beamline designs.
- RAPTOR will therefore make the benefits of proton therapy available to many more patients.

Our research projects
News & Articles

RAPTOR article “A consortium pushing particle therapy to new limits” published at Young ESTRO Corner
We are happy to announce that the article, written by our Early Stage Researchers Luciano Rivetti and Nadine Vatterodt, was published in the Young ESTRO

Open position at OncoRay
PhD Student (f/m/d) Automated QA for online adaptive proton therapy As a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers, the HZDR employs about

Open position at UMCG for RAPTOR project n°4
The RAPTOR -Real-time Adaptive Particle Therapy Of Cancer Innovative Training Network (ITN) is looking for a highly motivated PhD student to join the project. The offered position

RAPTOR article “A consortium pushing particle therapy to new limits” published at Young ESTRO Corner
We are happy to announce that the article, written by our Early Stage Researchers Luciano Rivetti and Nadine Vatterodt, was published in the Young ESTRO

Open position at OncoRay
PhD Student (f/m/d) Automated QA for online adaptive proton therapy As a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers, the HZDR employs about

Open position at UMCG for RAPTOR project n°4
The RAPTOR -Real-time Adaptive Particle Therapy Of Cancer Innovative Training Network (ITN) is looking for a highly motivated PhD student to join the project. The offered position

1° RAPTOR SCHOOL-LOOP BASIC: Registration is open!
13th to 17th December in Munich: save the date! The final programme has been published. Registration and participation in the scholarship award will be open
Member of RAPTOR Consortium
RAPTOR brings together 13 Beneficiaries and 15 partner organizations from all over Europe with one aim in common: To bring adaptive particle therapy to the clinic.
