ASTRO Applauds President Obama's Health Priorities

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) applauds President Obama's healthcare reform priorities set forth in his February 26, 2009, budget blueprint, particularly the President's promise to double funding for cancer research and close loopholes that are weakening the Medicare program.

Remarkable breakthroughs in cancer research and medical technology continue to make radiation therapy an effective, less-invasive cancer treatment option. Because radiation therapy is not invasive and has relatively minimal side effects, patients receiving radiation therapy often can maintain normal family lifestyles and continue to work.

The economic downturn and a strained healthcare system are forcing an increasing number of cancer patients, both insured and uninsured, to make heartbreaking decisions to delay or forgo necessary radiation treatments. Radiation oncologists are deeply troubled by this dire situation facing their patients and are committed to help move forward needed healthcare reform.

source ASTRO

Next Generation Proton Therapy System for Cancer Treatment Set for Release This Year

LITTLETON, Mass., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Still River Systems announced today the successful operation of the world's highest field, high energy cyclotron magnet. Still River's magnet is the key technical element for reducing the size and cost of the particle accelerator that will deliver proton therapy at a number of hospitals beginning with the first installation at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri this fall.

"The last six months have been very exciting," said Marc Buntaine, CEO. "Still River has achieved all of the component milestones that bring us to system integration and delivery." Proton therapy, widely regarded as the next evolutionary step in the radiation treatment of cancer, has seen unprecedented interest from the radiation oncology and patient communities in recent years. However, the large size and high cost of existing proton therapy systems have made it difficult for the average hospital to add this powerful tool to their cancer fighting arsenal.

The heart of the Monarch250, a superconducting magnet developed in an industrial and academic partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has now tested operational and stable at its full design current "This magnet sets a record for magnetic field strength used in a high energy cyclotron. The cyclotron built around this magnet will be the most compact source for proton therapy available today." said Dr. Kenneth Gall, founder and Chief Technology Officer.

source: PR Newswire

Radiation Therapy Equipment Vendors To Test System Integration

The American Society for Radiation Oncology will host a connectathon at its headquarters in Fairfax, Va., this September as part of the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise - Radiation Oncology (IHE-RO) initiative to promote seamless connectivity and integration of radiotherapy equipment and patient health information systems. The goal of this multi-year project is to reduce medical errors and improve efficiency by allowing physicians to purchase the best equipment for their practices, regardless of the manufacturer. This connectathon will be the final step in a process that has included vendor development, software testing and real-time interconnectivity testing.

"ASTRO is honored to be a leader of such a critical initiative as the IHE project," said Laura I. Thevenot, ASTRO's chief executive officer. "By ensuring that vendors meet the IHE-RO integration requirements, we are enabling radiation oncology teams to better implement the advanced technology available to them and better communicate vital information to the men and women undergoing treatment for cancer. I congratulate all the vendors participating in this initiative that I believe will help lead to more seamless patient care."

source: Medical News Today

New Proton Therapy Equipment Enables More Tumors to be Treated

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- An advance in the way protons are delivered at the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute enables physicians to treat tumors that are deeper in the body, tumors that are very large and tumors that are situated closer to vital organs.

Called uniform scanning, the new device moves a single beam of protons in a sweeping or "scanning" motion, enabling the beam to reach deeper into the body and to cover a wider treatment area than the more commonly used scattering method. Until now the proton beam was "scattered" and flattened using round filters that limited how deep and how wide protons could travel into the body.

Proton therapy will now be a possible treatment option for prostate cancer patients with a hip circumference of more than 50 inches and for sarcoma patients with tumors larger than 9.4 inches. Uniform scanning also means significant medical advantages for patients with tumors in the head and neck, brain or spinal column since it can cover the target area more efficiently than the scattering method.

source: PR Newswire

Varian Medical Systems Has Received CE Mark for Proton Therapy System

PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems today announced that it has received CE mark for the Varian Proton Therapy System, which is designed to help doctors to improve treatments and outcomes in many cancer cases. With proton therapy, doctors can use higher doses of radiation to control and manage tumors while significantly reducing damage to healthy tissue and vital organs.

"CE mark is an important milestone in Varian's initiative to develop and market a compact system capable of intensity-modulated proton therapy in single- or multi-room facilities," said Lester Boeh, vice president of emerging businesses for the company. "This is a clear demonstration of our ongoing commitment to provide the cancer treatment community and its patients with a clinically practical and commercially viable proton therapy system that meets accepted safety standards for medical equipment."

source: Varian

University Clinic Heidelberg Explores Advanced TomoTherapy® Delivery Technique

MADISON, Wis.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO) announced today that research partner University Clinic Heidelberg, Germany, has demonstrated the ability to dramatically reduce treatment times for the TomoTherapy® Hi·Art® system, while at the same time improving plan quality by further reducing radiation dose to normal tissue. Based on an in-depth planning study, University Clinic Heidelberg researchers anticipate that a reduction in treatment time of between 40 to 75 percent will be possible with next-generation delivery techniques currently in development by TomoTherapy. Detailed findings of the study will be published later this year.

University Clinic Heidelberg, one of the top radiation oncology institutes worldwide, installed the Hi·Art treatment system in March 2006. In December 2008, the medical team, led by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Debus, Prof. Dr. Klaus Herfarth and Dr. Florian Sterzing, treated its 500th cancer patient with TomoTherapy’s unique CT platform-based solution for image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IG-IMRT).

source: TomoTherapy

Nucletron and Advanced Radiation Therapy (ART) Jointly Announce a Global, Strategic Partnership to Offer AccuBoost® for Image-Guided Breast Irradiatio

COLUMBIA, MD and BILLERICA, MA (February 12, 2009) — Nucletron, a knowledge-based leader in radiation oncology, and Advanced Radiation Therapy (ART) announced today an exclusive global, strategic partnership to offer the AccuBoost® system with the microSelectron® high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy afterloader treatment delivery solution for the treatment of breast cancer. The partnership will enable clinicians all over the world to deliver boost brachytherapy as part of the whole breast irradiation procedure, providing a superior treatment option with the ultimate goal of improving clinical outcome.

The partnership offers radiation oncology centers the opportunity to implement ART’s innovative technology in image-guided HDR breast brachytherapy on a pay-per-patient pricing model, along with a full complement of Nucletron’s treatment planning, treatment delivery, training, licensing, reimbursement, and customized service support. ART’s expansion of AccuBoost technology through its global partnership with Nucletron will further reduce the barriers to adoption of brachytherapy for cancer centers previously deterred by the initial start-up costs usually associated with implementing a breast brachytherapy program.

source: Nucletron

Source of cancer stem cells' resistance to radiation discovered at Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. — Much to the dismay of patients and physicians, cancer stem cells — tiny powerhouses that generate and maintain tumor growth in many types of cancers — are relatively resistant to the ionizing radiation often used as therapy for these conditions. Part of the reason, say researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, is the presence of a protective pathway meant to shield normal stem cells from DNA damage. When the researchers blocked this pathway, the cells became more susceptible to radiation.

“Our ultimate goal is to come up with a therapy that knocks out the cancer stem cells,” said Robert Cho, MD, a clinical instructor of pediatrics. “If you irradiate a tumor and kill a lot of it but leave the cancer stem cells behind, the tumor has the ability to grow back.” As a result, patients can relapse months or years after seemingly successful treatment.

source: Stanford School of Medicine

Deficiencies Common In Radiation Therapy Trial Reports For Hodgkin's, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Reporting of radiation therapy details in randomized controlled trials for Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is deficient due to a lack of reporting of key radiation therapy descriptors and quality assurance processes designed to ensure the accuracy and reproducibility of treatment regimens, according to a February 1 study in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology* Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

Randomized controlled trial reports are the primary source of trial documentation that is available to clinicians and patients, and complete descriptions of the therapies used are necessary for proper interpretation and replication of the trials.

source: American Society for Radiation Oncology

19% of women don’t receive recommended radiation after mastectomy

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — One-fifth of women who should receive radiation after a mastectomy are not getting this potentially lifesaving treatment, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The study looked at 396 women who were treated with a mastectomy for breast cancer. The researchers found that 19 percent of women who fell clearly within guidelines recommending radiation treatment after the mastectomy did not receive that treatment.

Results of the study appear online in the journal Cancer and will be published in the March 15 issue.

Post-mastectomy radiation is known to decrease the risk of cancer returning in the chest wall and has been shown to reduce mortality in high-risk patients, but there’s been some debate within the cancer community about who is likely to benefit most.

source: University of Michigan Health System

ProCure Signs Agreement with .decimal, Inc. to Purchase Patient-Specific Devices for Its Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma City

SANFORD, Fla., Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- .decimal, Inc. announced today that it has signed an agreement with ProCure Treatment Centers, Inc. to supply patient-specific devices for its proton therapy facility in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

".decimal is excited to have a formal agreement signed with ProCure to be their preferred outsource provider of custom, patient-specific devices utilizing our patented, internet-based manufacturing solution," says Richard Sweat, CEO and President of .decimal.

This agreement calls for proton range compensators and apertures to be manufactured in Sanford, Florida and shipped to the facility in Oklahoma within 24-72 hours. Mark Mills, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for .decimal says, "Signing with ProCure just further strengthens the commitment we have made to the proton therapy industry and specifically to their state-of-the-art facility in Oklahoma City."

.decimal, Inc. has been supplying patient-specific medical devices, as well as other custom machining projects for the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute since June of 2007. This partnership continues to demonstrate why .decimal, Inc. is the industry leader in partnering with proton therapy facilities worldwide.

source: PR Newswire