Leo Cancer Care France and Centre Léon Bérard Awarded Prestigious FEDER Grant to Advance Upright Radiation Therapy

LYON, France, May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Leo Cancer Care France and Centre Léon Bérard are proud to announce they have been awarded a Fonds Européen de Développement Régional grant to support their collaborative efforts to advance upright radiation therapy. This recognition from the European Union underscores the momentum behind patient-centric cancer care and innovation in medical technologies across Europe.

A Huge Milestone

The awarded project will focus on validating and optimising the use of Leo Cancer Care's upright proton therapy solution, Marie®, in a clinical setting, to enhance treatment efficiency, improve patient comfort, and enable greater accessibility to proton therapy. The aim of the 'Proton Radiotherapy Centre' project is to offer this therapeutic arsenal to patients in the AURA region.

Phase 1 of the project, funded by the ERDF, will focus on the project's innovation: treating patients upright, ensuring greater comfort during the treatment session. The installation of the vertical positioning system will make it possible, during phase 2, to install the clinical proton therapy equipment, as well as conduct translational research in parallel. The grant provides critical funding to integrate the technology and build upon existing research within one of France's leading comprehensive cancer centres. 

"This grant represents an exciting milestone for Leo Cancer Care France and our valued partners at Centre Léon Bérard, who have been instrumental in gathering the research data that has validated the use of upright therapy clinically since 2019," said Stephen Towe, CEO of Leo Cancer Care.

Validation From Research

Early findings from Centre Léon Bérard's research have shown that patients prefer to be positioned in the upright posture ^[1]. This has been a major factor for the highly regarded cancer research hospital adopting the Marie* system for future treatments.

"We are proud to continue working alongside Leo Cancer Care on the clinical effectiveness of upright radiotherapy," added Vincent Gregoire, Head of Centre Léon Bérard's Radiation Oncology Department, "Together, we aim to demonstrate the clinical and operational value of upright radiotherapy whilst positioning our institution at the forefront of innovative, patient-centric cancer care."

Reference:
^[1] Boisbouvier S, Boucaud A, Tanguy R, Grégoire V. Upright patient positioning for pelvic radiotherapy treatments. Tech Innov Patient Support Radiat Oncol. 2022 Nov 28;24:124-130. doi: 10.1016/j.tipsro.2022.11.003. PMID: 36471684; PMCID: PMC9719023.

*The Marie system is not clinically available.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2678606/Leo_Cancer_Care.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2678605/Bandeau_AG_Charte_Region_Europe_Logo.jpg