OnCo
technologiesTechnologyPhase 2

Lattice and GRID radiotherapy

Deliberately treating a big tumour unevenly, with a lattice of very high dose peaks inside it, instead of a uniform dose.

Spatially fractionated radiotherapy places vertices of ablative dose inside a bulky tumour while valleys receive far less, exploiting bystander and immune effects rather than uniform coverage. Studies active in 2026 include Memorial Sloan Kettering (NCT05837767, recruiting), a randomised comparison against conventional radiotherapy in China (NCT06980259, recruiting), and combinations with checkpoint blockade (NCT07428148, NYU; NCT07041788). Most published series are palliative and single-arm.

Generic schematic · not to scale · placeholder for the radiation front
Linac head + MLC · Target (PTV) · Gantry arc · Cone-beam CT guidance

How it works

High-dose vertices spaced across the tumour create steep dose gradients; abscopal and bystander signalling plus vascular damage are proposed to extend the effect beyond the peaks.

Strengths
  • Debulks large tumours that cannot tolerate uniform ablative dose
  • Clear rationale for combining with immunotherapy
  • Deliverable on standard linear accelerators
Limitations
  • Mechanism is not settled
  • Mostly palliative, single-arm evidence
  • No consensus on vertex spacing or dose

Latest papers

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Latest papers · live from Europe PMC
Open in Europe PMC

Query for this technology: (TITLE:"Lattice and GRID radiotherapy" OR ABSTRACT:"Lattice and GRID radiotherapy") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Lattice and GRID radiotherapy, not a curated reading list.

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