Mitsubishi to begin production of MHI-TM2000 Linear Accelerator

Tokyo, January 22, 2008 - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will begin full-scale production and marketing of a highly advanced radiotherapy machine for cancer treatment capable of precise identification of tumor location and exact targeting of X-ray irradiation. The new machine, the MHI-TM2000 linear accelerator system, can capture a cancer -affected area more precisely and delivery radiation beam more accurately than existing machines. MHI obtained manufacturing and marketing approval, based on the Pharmaceutical Law, from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on January 16, following earlier approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Now that these approvals have been secured, MHI will commence active marketing both at home and abroad.

For more information see Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd press release.

HCPCS Reimbursement Code for Implantable Radiation Dosimeter Makes DVS(R) Accessible to More Patients

MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Sicel Technologies, Inc. announced today that CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) has established a new HCPCS code (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System) that became effective on January 1, 2008, for implantable radiation dosimeters.

The code will provide a mechanism for providers to report the cost for the DVS(R) (Dose Verification System), the first implantable dosimeter used to verify radiation dose during radiation therapy treatment and serve as a radiographic treatment marker. The code, which will be used by radiation therapy centers to report the medical device when implanted in any body site, makes DVS more accessible to patients undergoing radiation treatment for breast and prostate cancer because insurers will have the ability to identify the use of this novel technology and provide payment for patients treated with the DVS technology. Separate codes are available to cover the cost associated with implanting the device.

centredaily.com

Study Links Quality Of Breast Cancer Care And Physician Characteristics

Whether a woman receives radiation after breast cancer surgery may be associated with certain characteristics of her surgeon, including sex and medical training, according to a study published online January 29 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Many breast cancer patients do not receive radiation after undergoing breast conservation surgery, despite the fact that this treatment is considered a standard of quality cancer care and has been shown to reduce breast cancer recurrence. Previous studies have shown that certain patient characteristics, such as a patient's race and distance from a radiation therapy facility, are associated with receiving post-surgical radiation. But it has been unclear whether physician characteristics also play a role in the quality of breast cancer care.

MedicalNewsToday

Surgeons' Characteristics Influence Breast Cancer Care

TUESDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) - Individual surgeon characteristics, such as gender and medical training, may influence whether a women receives radiation after breast conservation cancer surgery, a U.S. study suggests.

Many breast cancer patients don't receive radiation therapy after breast conservation therapy, even though it's been shown to reduce breast cancer recurrence and is considered a standard of quality care, according to background information in the study.

CBC News

Cyberknife Technique Leaves Patients Beaming

The CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System may blast targeted doses of radiation that shrink tumors, but it's the nurses at Winthrop-University Hospital who prepare the patients for the procedure and provide the TLC.

“What's so wonderful is we can offer radiation to patients who have failed radiation or chemotherapy,” says Elaine Montchal, RN, CyberKnife nurse coordinator at Winthrop -University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. “This gives another treatment option we can offer them.”

CyberKnife directs precisely targeted radiation to tumors. Radiation oncologists can sculpt the beam to reach small, deeply imbedded masses considered inoperable or untreatable with conventional radiation or surgery.

Nurse.com

Siemens Receives FDA 510(K) Clearance for Next Generation Radiation Therapy Solution

CONCORD, Calif., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens Medical Solutions (www.usa.siemens.com/medical) announced it has received FDA 510(k) marketing clearance for the sale and distribution of its most recent innovation in radiation therapy technology, the ARTISTE(TM.

Developed by Siemens' Oncology Care Systems, the ARTISTE Solution is a linear accelerator engineered specifically for Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART). Unique in design, ARTISTE is an integrated imaging and workflow solution that provides a comprehensive portfolio of image-guided and advanced treatment delivery protocols.

This new radiation therapy solution offers clinicians multiple imaging modalities. From Megavoltage (MV) to gold-standard, in-room CT imaging, clinicians can select the optimal imaging application for their treatment approach.

PR Newswire

Adjuvant radiation might improve survival in patients with localized pancreatic
cancer.

Patients with pancreatic cancer who receive external beam radiotherapy survive longer
than those who are treated with surgery alone, according to the results of a retrospective analysis published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Management of patients with pancreatic cancer is an ongoing challenge because despite
improvements in surgical technique and the introduction of new treatment regimens,
prognosis remains extremely poor. 5-year survival rates after attempts at curative surgery range from just 14% to 27%.

source article - Cancer Media Service

TomoTherapy Releases Hi-Art® Treatment System Version 3.1

MADISON, Wis. – Jan. 23, 2008 – TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO) announced today that it has begun shipping a faster version of its proven platform for image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IG-IMRT). Version 3.1 of the TomoTherapy® Hi·Art® treatment system includes new software and hardware features that enhance clinical productivity and system usability, and are expected to increase patient throughput.

During December, TomoTherapy conducted a time-on-task study to assess the Hi·Art system version 3.1 enhancements in a clinical setting. Results show savings of up to 5 minutes per patient have been achieved over previous versions, based on a standard 20-minute treatment slot.

Tomotherapy

Smoking ups risk with radiation for breast cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cigarette smoking dramatically increases the risk that a woman who has undergone radiation treatment for breast cancer will develop lung cancer later on, a new study shows.

Radiation after mastectomy may be considered for some high-risk breast cancer patients, Dr. Elizabeth L. Kaufman and colleagues from Columbia University in New York City point out in their report. However, radiation can cause many complications, including increasing the likelihood that a patient will develop lung cancer 10 or more years after treatment, they add.

Medline Plus

Radiotherapy As Effective As Surgery In Bladder Cancer Treatment, UK

Radiotherapy is as effective as surgery in treating bladder cancer, according to a study* published recently.

The study by Cancer Research UK scientists has found that survival rates among bladder cancer patients treated with radiotherapy in Leeds are the same as those associated with radical cystectomy - surgery involving the complete removal of the bladder.

The finding suggests that radiotherapy could be preferred over surgery, particularly in elderly patients, because of the potentially severe impact on quality of life that removing the bladder can have.

MedicalNewsToday

Elekta Announces First Two Clinical Sites Using VMAT Cancer Treatment Capability

Elekta (STO:EKTAB), a world leader in clinical solutions for radiation therapy and radiosurgery, announced that two sites are utilizing Elekta technology to implement clinical treatments with Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)*. With the recent CE designation of VMAT in Europe, the way has been cleared for The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, UK and General Hospital Vienna in Austria to treat cancer using Elekta's VMAT solution.

VMAT is a significant improvement to existing advanced radiation therapy techniques, often referred to as IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) and offers a faster alternative to helical tomotherapy. With Elekta's VMAT technology, the target continuously is irradiated while the source of the beam is rotated around the patient in single or multiple arcs. By simultaneously controlling gantry position, gantry speed, leaves of the multi-leaf collimator (MLC), collimator angle and dose rate, a highly conformal dose distribution is created in significantly less time than with today's techniques. With VMAT from Elekta, a treatment session typically can be conducted in five minutes or less, including true 3D imaging to secure the location of the target.

MedicalNewsToday.

Radiation seed, chemotherapy wafer implants combo may treat cancerous brain tumours

Washington, Jan 20 : Dual implantation of radiation seeds and chemotherapy wafers following surgery may help treat cancerous brain tumours, according to a new study.

The finding, based on a study, led by Ronald Warnick, MD, chairman of the Mayfield Clinic and professor of neurosurgery at UC, revealed that patients treated with simultaneous implantation of radioactive seeds and chemotherapy wafers following removal of GlioBlastoma Multiforme (GBM) experienced longer survival compared with patients who had implantation of seeds or wafers alone.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), also known as grade 4 astrocytoma, is the most common and aggressive type of primary brain tumor.

AndhraNews.net

Radiotherapy can be better option than surgery for bladder cancer

Radiotherapy can be a better option than surgery for people with bladder cancer, being effective while preserving continence, say experts.

Doctors typically opt to remove the whole bladder when the cancer is advanced.

But work by Cancer Research UK shows this should not necessarily be recommended as "gold standard" care.

Bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, with 10,093 new cases diagnosed in 2004.

Removing the bladder can treat the disease, but it may result in continence problems that the person has to live with for the rest of their life.

BBC News

Elekta Announces First Two Clinical Sites Using VMAT Cancer Treatment Capability

ATLANTA, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Elekta, a world leader in clinical solutions for radiation therapy and radiosurgery, announced today that two sites are utilizing Elekta technology to implement clinical treatments with Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)*. With the recent CE designation of VMAT in Europe, the way has been cleared for The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, UK and General Hospital Vienna in Austria to treat cancer using Elekta's VMAT solution.

VMAT is a significant improvement to existing advanced radiation therapy techniques, often referred to as IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) and offers a faster alternative to helical tomotherapy. With Elekta's VMAT technology, the target continuously is radiated while the source of the beam is rotated around the patient in single or multiple arcs. By simultaneously controlling gantry position, gantry speed, leaves of the multi-leaf collimator (MLC), collimator angle and dose rate, a highly conformal dose distribution is created in significantly less time than with today's techniques. With VMAT from Elekta, a treatment session typically can be conducted in five minutes or less, including true 3D imaging to secure the location of the target.

source article

Combined Radiation Seed, Chemotherapy Wafer Implantation Shows Promise in Treating Cancerous Brain Tumors

CINCINNATI ... In the battle against malignant brain tumors, dual implantation of radioactive seeds and chemotherapy wafers following surgery showed promising results in a study led by specialists at the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and University Hospital.

The study, published in the February issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery, revealed that patients treated with simultaneous implantation of radioactive seeds and chemotherapy wafers following removal of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) experienced longer survival compared with patients who had implantation of seeds or wafers alone.

source

Prostate Cancer Guide Reports More Men Opting For Radiation Therapy

Sarasota, FL, January 7 – The Executive Director of Sarasota’s Dattoli Cancer Center & Brachytherapy Research Institute, Donald Kaltenbach, announced publication of an updated Fifth Edition of his classic patient guidebook, Prostate Cancer: A Survivor’s Guide. With over 50,000 copies in print, the book has been expanded to include the most recent medical data on diagnosis and treatment of this disease, including 4-Dimensional Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (4D IG-IMRT) and Dynamic Adaptive Radiotherapy (DART). The book reports impressive results achieved at the Dattoli Cancer Center by Kaltenbach’s associate, Dr. Michael J. Dattoli, whose 14-year study of high risk prostate cancer patients was published in the American Cancer Society’s journal, Cancer (August 1, 2007).

According to Kaltenbach, the Survivor’s Guide is the first book to report that excellent rates of tumor control (greater than 80%) are possible even in high risk prostate cancer patients by utilizing a combination treatment protocol of external beam radiation (4D IG-IMRT) followed by brachytherapy. A former patient himself, Mr. Kaltenbach was treated in 1990 with brachytherapy, a noninvasive procedure using radioactive seed implants. “With increased awareness of advanced non-surgical therapies, more men are choosing not to go under the knife, because they want to preserve their quality of life by avoiding the risks of surgical complications such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction.”

WebWire

SenoRx Launches Contura MLB

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Jan. 17, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- SenoRx, Inc. (Nasdaq:SENO) today announced that it has launched Contura(tm), its Multi-Lumen Balloon (MLB) Catheter for delivering brachytherapy to the surgical margins following lumpectomy for breast cancer. The company had previously said that it intended to transition from user preference testing, which had expanded to 34 clinical sites by the end of 2007, to full commercial launch in January 2008.

Contura is one of a new class of devices which is designed to reduce radiation treatment time to five days from six to eight weeks in patients eligible for the treatment. SenoRx believes that the Contura MLB can play an important role in the shift from traditional whole breast radiation therapy to localized partial breast radiation therapy.

source

Sagemark Announces Third Radiation Therapy Medical Center Venture

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Sagemark Companies Ltd. announced today that it has established Premier Oncology of Suffolk, LLC through which it will develop its third radiation therapy medical center venture. The new facility will feature a TomoTherapy® Hi-Art® system, one of the most advanced radiation therapy cancer treatment systems available.

Allen G. Meek, MD, Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stony Brook University Medical Center in Stony Brook, New York will serve as the Chief Medical Officer for the new facility, which will be located near the Stony Brook University Medical Center. Featured in each edition of the “Top Doctors: New York Metro Area” in the prestigious Castle Connolly medical guide since its inception ten years ago, Dr. Meek is a leading radiation oncologist in Suffolk County and will be supported in his efforts at the Company’s radiation therapy center by four of his fellow members of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stony Brook University Medical Center.

Business Wire

Non-radiation / Mammosite

Traditional external beam radiation therapy for breast cancer can span a period of five to seven weeks. That length of treatment time makes it tough for some patients to undergo radiation. There may be a more convenient alternative.

There are other methods of radiation that, for some patients, can decrease the time involved and make radiation a lot more manageable.

Dr. James Vopal, at the Breast Care Center of the Treasure Coast in Stuart, offers breast cancer patients a unique type of radiation called MammoSite.

source article

Several companies offering alternative radiation therapy

Terri Somers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

For decades, people with tumors in the head and neck had few treatment options that didn't require surgery. There was general radiation therapy, which had plenty of side effects such as hair loss and damage to healthy tissue.

And there was the Leskell Gamma Knife, a technology out of Sweden. It was the long-favored technology of radiologists and neurosurgeons because it applied a precisely focused beam of radiation at a tumor to destroy it, with little to no damage to surrounding tissue.

But capitalism, drugs and technology have started to change the market.

source article

Phoenix Definition Of Biochemical Failure Predicts For Overall Survival In Patients With Prostate Cancer

UroToday.com- The Phoenix definition of prostate cancer biochemical failure (BF) following radiotherapy (XRT) is a more robust determinant of patient outcome compared with the ASTRO definition according to a report in the online version of Cancer, by Dr. Abramowitz and colleagues.

The ASTRO definition of BF is 3 consecutive rises in the PSA after the post-treatment PSA nadir backdated to the midpoint between the nadir and the first rise. The Phoenix definition is the nadir PSA + 2. The present study compared the two definitions as determinants of distant metastasis (DM), cause-specific mortality (CSM), and overall mortality (OM).

MedicalNewsToday

Finding the Right Radiation Facility Is Critical for Cancer Patients

Newswise — Newly diagnosed cancer patients should spend as much time researching a radiation treatment facility as they would spend picking out a new car or a home.

“More than 50 percent of people diagnosed with cancer will have to undergo radiation therapy,” said Dr. E. Brian Butler, chief of radiation oncology at The Methodist Cancer Center in Houston. “It’s very important to do your homework because, as a cancer patient, this will be one of the most important decisions you will make.”

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), pioneered by The Methodist Hospital in March, 1994, is a procedure that gives radiation oncologists the ability to shape and focus multiple small beams of radiation and deliver them directly to the tumor in a circular manner. This drastically reduces the amount of good tissue that is sometimes damaged during radiation therapy.

source article

Benefits of short-term hormonal therapy for men receiving radiation therapy for prostate cancer outweigh the risks

Researchers report that just four months of hormonal therapy before and with standard external beam radiation therapy slowed cancer growth by as much as eight years - especially the development of bone metastases - and increased survival in older men with potentially aggressive prostate cancer.

This "neoadjuvant" hormonal therapy may allow men most at risk of developing bone metastases avoid long-term hormonal therapy later on. Furthermore, the short-term hormonal therapy did not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease - a potential side effect of long-term hormonal therapy. The study is being published online January 2 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).

source article

Combo Therapy Cuts Prostate Cancer Death Rates

THURSDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that a common but controversial treatment for prostate cancer reduces long-term death rates without greatly boosting patients' risk of heart problems, as some specialists had feared.

In patients with severe cases of prostate cancer, a combination of testosterone-lowering drugs and radiation therapy appeared to lower the odds of dying of the disease over a 10-year period, from 36 percent to 23 percent.

Healthscout - complete article

Varian Medical Systems Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for RapidArc(TM) Radiotherapy Technology

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR - News) has received FDA 510(k) clearances for its RapidArc(TM) radiotherapy technology, a revolutionary advance that makes it possible to deliver image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) two to eight times faster and more precisely than is possible with conventional IMRT or helical tomotherapy.

"RapidArc represents a major medical advance that will change the way radiation therapy is planned and delivered," says Dow Wilson, president of Varian's Oncology Systems business. "Our primary goal with this product is to improve clinical outcomes. In addition, we discovered that we could simultaneously improve treatment efficiency significantly. RapidArc should make better-quality radiotherapy a more affordable, more accessible treatment option, and enable more cancer patients to receive a higher standard of care."

press release