Verity Radiation Therapy Becomes Second U.S. Medical Center to Treat Cancer Patients Using RapidArc(TM) Radiotherapy Technology

PLANO, Texas, May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Earlier this week,
Verity Radiation Therapy, at The Texas Clinic at Prestonwood, became the
second medical center in the United States to commence treating cancer
patients with RapidArc(TM) radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical
Systems (NYSE: VAR) earlier this week. RapidArc is an advanced form of
image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) that can be
delivered two to eight times faster than is possible with conventional IMRT
or helical tomotherapy.

"We delivered our first RapidArc treatment yesterday, to a patient with
prostate cancer who was about two weeks into an eight and a half week
course of traditional IMRT treatments," said Dr. Ed Gilbert, radiation
oncologist. "Before, his treatments were taking about 10 minutes each day
to complete. Yesterday, using the RapidArc approach, we completed the
entire process in about 6 minutes. That included positioning the patient,
taking images, adjusting his position, and delivering the treatment. Actual
treatment delivery was completed in less than 90 seconds, compared to five
and a half minutes with the conventional approach."

source: PR Newswire

Invasive Methods Unnecessary For Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning

Modern 3-D computed tomography (CT) is an effective method for locating the prostatic apex for radiation therapy treatment planning in prostate cancer patients because it eliminates the need for an invasive procedure and the related side effects, according to a study in the May 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.

Retrograde urethrography, which involves inserting a catheter into the male urethra to inject contrast, is the standard method used to identify the area of the prostate to be treated with radiation. However, this method is invasive and uncomfortable for patients and comes with risks of side effects, such as urethral injury and infection, as well as additional costs.

source: Medical News Today

FDA Clears Calypso® Medical’s GPS for the Body® for Prostatectomy Patients

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Calypso® Medical announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared a new indication for the use of implantable Beacon® electromagnetic transponders with the Calypso System in external beam radiation therapy. Known as GPS for the Body®, the Calypso System utilizes transponders to setup and continuously track the position of targeted tissue during radiation treatment. In the event that the tumor site moves outside of acceptable limits, the clinician adapts therapy during daily treatment to ensure the treatment is delivered as prescribed to the cancerous tissue while avoiding adjacent healthy organs. This is the only technology platform designed to provide objective, accurate and continuous tracking information during external beam radiation therapy without adding ionizing radiation. Radiation therapy is the standard of care for patients with a high risk of prostate cancer recurrence or those in whom recurrence has been diagnosed. Previously, GPS for the Body® technology was cleared solely for use in patients with an intact prostate. Studies indicate up to 20% of prostatectomy patients are diagnosed with recurrent prostate cancer following surgery and require adjuvant radiation therapy.

source: Calypso Medical

SAVI Applicator Outperforms Competing Devices, Study Concludes

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A study conducted at Arizona Oncology Services (AOS) found important advantages for the SAVI™ applicator over other radiation devices used for accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI). The study and one other also conducted at AOS were presented as posters at the recent 2008 World Congress of Brachytherapy.

SAVI is a single-entry, multi-catheter device that delivers radiation as part of breast conservation therapy. It is the only APBI single-entry device that can customize the dose according to patient-specific anatomy. By more precisely targeting radiation therapy, SAVI treats the tissue where the cancer is most likely to recur, while minimizing the exposure of healthy tissue such as the skin, heart, lungs and ribs.

In the first study, SAVI was compared to two balloon applicators. The researchers noted that SAVI’s multiple peripheral catheters, each of which can be individually loaded with a radiation source, enabled them to significantly lower the radiation dose delivered to the skin while maintaining full coverage of the target volume. When compared to the other devices, this capability provided better protection to the skin and chest wall.

source: Business Wire

External-Beam Radiation Therapy For Localized Prostate Cancer Linked To Bladder, Lung And Colorectal Cancer

Patients undergoing external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for localized prostate cancer may be at an increased risk for secondary malignancy, according to a study from researchers in Canada, Italy and the United States presented during the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) in Orlando. Researchers will present data to reporters during a special press conference on May 19, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.

These findings have significant implications for men evaluating treatment options for localized prostate cancer.

source: Medical News Today

Top Cancer Hospitals in Denmark and Netherlands First in Europe to Treat Patients With RapidArc™ Radiotherapy

COPENHAGEN, Denmark and AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, May 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Doctors in Denmark and the Netherlands have successfully carried out Europe's first clinical treatments using advanced RapidArc™ technology from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR). Cancer patients at Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet and Amsterdam's VU University medical center became the first people in Europe to benefit from this advanced form of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).

Dr. Svend Aage Engelholm, chief radiation oncologist of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), says, "Our first image guided RapidArc treatment went perfectly and the only unusual aspect was that the patient joined the clinical team in a celebratory glass of champagne after treatment. He was certainly aware that this was the first clinical treatment of its kind in Europe." Dr. Engelholm said the actual treatment took just 75 seconds to deliver.\

source: Varian

Study Says New Radiation Therapy Technology for Breast Cancer Helps Protect Tissue, Adds Options for Patients

SAN DIEGO -- New research conducted at Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego shows that the SAVI™ breast brachytherapy applicator, a new approach for delivering accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI), may provide better protection of healthy tissue than other partial breast irradiation methods

The research team, led by Catheryn Yashar, M.D., assistant professor and chief of breast and gynecological services in the UC San Diego Department of Radiation Oncology, presented study results at the recent 2008 World Congress of Brachytherapy.

Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego is one of the first medical facilities in the nation to offer SAVI.

The UC San Diego team reported that the SAVI applicator provided better protection of skin, lung, and chest wall/rib tissue than two earlier methods of radiation treatment. That advantage makes SAVI a viable treatment option for patients whose anatomy or surgical cavity location may prevent them from being treated by the other methods, according to the scientific poster presentation of the study.

source: Cianna Medical

External-Beam Radiation Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer Linked to Bladder, Lung and Colorectal Cancer

Newswise — Patients undergoing external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for localized prostate cancer may be at an increased risk for secondary malignancy, according to a study from researchers in Canada, Italy and the United States presented today during the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) in Orlando. Researchers presented data to reporters during a special press conference on May 19, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.

These findings have significant implications for men evaluating treatment options for localized prostate cancer.

Using records from 10,333 men treated for localized prostate cancer (6,196 with radical prostatectomy and 4,137 with EBRT) between 1983 and 2004, researchers examined subsequent diagnoses of bladder, lung and colorectal cancer to determine whether the incidence rate of these secondary malignancies was greater in patients who underwent EBRT as opposed to radical prostatectomy.

source: Newswise

University of Alabama at Birmingham First in the U.S. to Treat Cancer Patients with RapidArc™ Radiotherapy

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Health System became the first medical center in the United States this week to commence treating cancer patients with a revolutionary new technique called RapidArc™ radiotherapy. RapidArc, from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) makes it possible to deliver advanced image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) two to eight times faster than is possible with conventional IMRT or helical tomotherapy.

"Our first RapidArc patient has early-stage prostate cancer, and chose radiation therapy for his treatments," said John B. Fiveash, M.D., radiation oncologist. "He'll be receiving daily treatments for four weeks, so he was quite pleased to find out that, using RapidArc technology, we would be completing his treatments in under two minutes per day. Delivering IMRT would have taken at least five times longer with earlier technologies."

source: Varian Medical Systems

Delays In Starting Radiotherapy Can Increase Risk Of Cancer Recurrence

In both breast and head and neck cancers the risk of local recurrence increases with longer radiotherapy waiting times, finds a Canadian meta-analysis. The study, published in Radiotherapy and Oncology, concludes that delays in radiotherapy treatment should be kept to the minimum time possible.

Waiting times for radiotherapy were first identified as cause for concern around 20 years ago. Treatment delays can be attributed to increasing demands for radiotherapy caused by the growing incidence of cancer due to an ageing population and the discovery and adoption of new indications for radiotherapy. "When the increasing demand is not matched by a commensurate increase in treatment capacity, waiting lists for RT become inevitable," write the authors Zheng Chen and colleagues, from Queen's Cancer Research Institute ( Kingston, Ontario, Canada) and Cross Cancer Institute ( Edmonton, Alta, Canada).

source: Cancer Media Service

Respiratory-Gated Radiotherapy Reduces Need for Repeat Planning: Presented at ELCC

Timothy A. O'Leary

GENEVA -- April 29, 2008 -- Use of respiratory-gated radiotherapy (RGRT) in patients with locally advanced lung cancer reduces the need to adapt or modify radiotherapy treatment plans, researchers reported here at the 1st European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC).

Jason Pantarotto, MD, Radiation Oncologist, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and his collaborators designed their trial to evaluate whether adaptive modification of RGRT treatment plans was needed in patients receiving concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

"Our preliminary results suggest that adaptive radiotherapy has a limited role when RGRT is used to reduce toxicity," he said in his presentation on April 25.

source: Doctors Guide

States Limit Costly Sites for Cancer Radiation - NY Times

ANDREW POLLACK

Seeking to rein in medical costs, a commission in Michigan on Wednesday moved to prevent hospitals in the state from each spending $100 million or more to provide a new form of radiation treatment for cancer.

The commission, which sets standards for major hospital construction, said it would allow only one center to be built in the state for the treatment, which is known as proton beam therapy. It ordered the state’s largest hospitals — four of which had already proposed their own centers — to collaborate on that one project.

“The costs of multiple centers, each having the most expensive medical equipment yet developed, would be tremendous,” the state’s Certificate of Need Commission said.

source: New York Times