TomoTherapy Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for TomoDirect™ Radiotherapy Technology

MADISON, Wis. – August 26, 2008 – TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO) today announced that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for its TomoDirect™ radiation therapy technology. TomoDirect is an innovative new discrete-angle, sliding-beam delivery mode for the Hi·Art® treatment system. With this capability, clinicians gain an efficient complement to helical TomoTherapySM, one that enables fast treatment planning and delivery, while broadening the spectrum of patients that can be optimally treated with the industry’s most advanced platform for cancer care.

“This is a major milestone for TomoTherapy and, in turn, for cancer centers of all sizes,” said Fred Robertson, CEO of TomoTherapy. “TomoDirect significantly improves the throughput of our system, and widens the TomoTherapy treatment options available for clinical use. Now, more cancer patients can benefit from true, next-generation treatment technology.”

source: TomoTherapy

Siemens To Showcase Innovative Radiotherapy Solutions At ESTRO 27

At this year's ESTRO exhibition on the 14th - 18th September in Goteberg, Sweden, Siemens Healthcare will be showcasing the latest advancements in oncology imaging, treatment and therapy management. The medical devices and IT solutions have been designed to provide technological flexibility now and into the future, ensuring the optimum in patient safety and comfort.

The ARTISTE Solution is Siemens' innovative linear accelerator that offers a full complement of sophisticated imaging tools to optimise workflow. Featuring a small, 5mm thickness over the full-field, the 160 MLC™ Multileaf Collimator provides targeted treatment to the tumour shape independent of its size. MVision™ Megavoltage (MV) Cone Beam Imaging utilises one beam, one source and one detector to provide excellent target imaging in 2D or 3D. ARTISTE's 550 TxT™ Treatment Table is designed to ensure accurate patient positioning, providing an efficient and stable platform with the mechanical strength to accommodate even large patients.

source Medical News Today

SNM and ASTRO Team Up to Advance Molecular Imaging and Cancer Research

RESTON, Va.—SNM and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology (ASTRO) will cosponsor a symposium this fall examining the impact of translational advances on radiation oncology and cancer imaging. The two-day meeting, which takes place October 17–18, will bring together some of the world's leading experts and young investigators in the emerging field of molecular imaging.

"Collaborative forums, such as this meeting exploring intersections of molecular imaging and oncology, are critical to advancing our understanding of the underlying causes of disease," said SNM President Robert W. Atcher, Ph.D., M.B.A., emerging medical technology team leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and UNM/LANL Professor of Pharmacy at the University of New Mexico. "Continuing education and opportunities for colleagues to share research are essential to advancing the practice of molecular imaging—and to helping patients and their care givers gain the vital information they need in order to effectively treat disease as early as possible."

source: SNM Press Release

Targeted radiation therapy can control limited cancer spread

Precisely targeted radiation therapy can eradicate all evidence of disease in selected patients with cancer that has spread to only a few sites, suggests the first published report from an ongoing clinical trial.

In the August 15, 2008, issue of Clinical Cancer Research, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report that targeted radiation therapy had completely controlled all signs of cancer in 21 percent of patients who had five or fewer sites of metastatic disease.

"This was proof of principle in patients who had failed the standard therapies and had few, if any, remaining options," said the study's senior author, Ralph Weichselbaum, MD, professor and chairman of radiation and cellular oncology at the University of Chicago Medical Center. "We had encouraging results, including several long-term survivors, in patients with stage-IV cancers that had spread to distant sites."

source: University of Chicago Medical Center

Targeted Radiation Therapy Can Control Limited Cancer Spread

Precisely targeted radiation therapy can eradicate all evidence of disease in selected patients with cancer that has spread to only a few sites, suggests the first published report from an ongoing clinical trial.

In the August 15, 2008, issue of Clinical Cancer Research, (published online August 12) researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report that targeted radiation therapy had completely controlled all signs of cancer in 21 percent of patients who had five or fewer sites of metastatic disease.

source: Medical News Today

TomoTherapy to Introduce TomoDirect™ at ESTRO, ASTRO Annual Meetings

MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO) today announced that it will introduce the TomoDirect™ discrete-angle delivery mode1 for the TomoTherapy® Hi·Art® treatment system at two upcoming radiation oncology conferences. This innovative new technology allows Hi·Art system users to quickly plan and deliver advanced TomoTherapySM radiation treatments with a series of linear beam paths, rather than the existing helical path. With TomoDirect, clinicians can choose several discrete angles and the optimal modulation level required for delivery, based on specific patient therapy goals. TomoDirect will be unveiled at the annual meetings of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) in Gothenburg, Sweden, Sept. 14-18, 2008, and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) in Boston, Mass., Sept. 21-25, 2008.

“We are excited about TomoDirect because it will greatly increase the overall flexibility and efficiency of the Hi·Art treatment system,” said Fred Robertson, CEO of TomoTherapy. “Along with helical TomoTherapy delivery, TomoDirect will enhance our customers’ revenue-generating opportunities, and strengthen their ability to deliver the highest quality radiation therapy to the broadest patient population.”

souirce: Business Wire