Study Highlights CyberKnife SBRT Benefits for Treatment of Central Lung Tumors

SUNNYVALE, Calif., January 26, 2012 – Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), the premier radiation oncology company, announced today publication of a study demonstrating the benefits of the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System in treating central lung tumors. Historically, the treatment of central lung tumors using gantry based Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) has been challenging and required a great deal of accuracy to avoid risks of damaging critical structures, such as the airway, esophagus and heart that can result in serious complications including death, leaving patients with fewer, less effective and sometimes only palliative options. This study, published in the January 2012 online issue of Radiotherapy & Oncology (commonly known as the Green Journal), demonstrated that the CyberKnife System, which leverages the Synchrony® Respiratory Tracking System and Lung Optimized Treatment to non-invasively track and correct for respiratory motion, allows clinicians to deliver lung SBRT to patients with central lung lesions with minimal toxicity, sparing surrounding healthy tissue, such as the esophagus, trachea and heart while also providing high levels of tumor control.

The study, “Outcome of Four-Dimensional Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Centrally Located Lung Tumors,” reports on 56 patients (39 with primary lung cancer and 17 with metastatic tumors) treated with CyberKnife lung SBRT who were ineligible for surgery or chemotherapy, refused surgery or chemotherapy, or had an inoperable tumor. Local tumor control was 91 percent for the entire group at one year and 76 percent for the entire group at two years. The analysis of toxicity rates demonstrated that there were no serious complications reporting no acute grade three esophagitis, no grade four (life threatening/disabling) or five (fatal) toxicities in the patients treated.

source: Accuray

High Dose Rate Electronic Radiation Skin Cancer Treatment Now Available in US

01/23/2012 // San Jose, CA, USA // PeterWendt // Michael David

California Skin Institute founder Greg S. Morganroth, M.D., announced today the addition of electronic brachytherapy (eBx) to the skin cancer treatment options provided by Silicon Valley’s largest dermatology practice. This new treatment technique, a cutting-edge development allowing for extremely conformal, focused, high-dose radiation to be administered to isolated areas, completes the full spectrum of skin cancer treatments offered by California Skin Institute and their team of dermatologists, Mohs surgeons, radiation oncologists, dermatopathologists, and plastic surgeons.

Traditional options for skin cancer treatment are categorized as surgical (traditional excision and Mohs Surgery) and non-surgical (topical drugs and radiation therapy). Localized radiation treatment provides high cure rates, pain-free treatment, and excellent cosmetic results in tandem with a long-proven history of successful use.

The electronic brachytherapy now administered by California Skin Institute is a state-of-the-art alternative to more traditional radiation therapies found in hospital settings. California Skin Institute’s radiation technologists and board-certified radiation oncologists utilize a miniaturized x-ray source to deliver accurate, high-dose radiation to skin cancer cells while sparing the surrounding normal tissue.

source: Wired Pr News

Varian Medical Systems Showcases Advanced Radiotherapy Systems for Treating Cancer at 2012 Arab Health Congress and Exhibition

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Varian Medical Systems VAR +0.01% , the world leader in radiotherapy, is spotlighting its family of advanced treatment machines and integrated software solutions at the 2012 Arab Health Congress and Exhibition over the next four days. The Varian exhibit (Sheikh Saeed Hall, Booth No. S3-E40) focuses on latest developments and future innovations in Varian's complete line of medical linear accelerators - including the fast and precise TrueBeam system - along with Eclipse(TM) treatment planning software, ARIA® oncology information software, proton therapy systems, brachytherapy solutions, and its full range of X-ray tubes and digital image detectors.

"We are excited to be able to showcase our advanced treatment, software and imaging systems at this prestigious event," says Rolf Staehelin, Varian's director international marketing for EMEA and APAC. "Varian is the clear market leader in radiotherapy and radiosurgery in the Gulf Corporate Council (GCC) countries and is at the forefront of technology advances that help clinicians benefit patients by delivering faster and more efficient treatments. We are looking forward to sharing our excitement about these developments with the radiation oncology community in this key region."

Designed to advance the treatment of lung, breast, prostate, gynaecologic, liver, head and neck, intracranial and other types of cancer, Varian's TrueBeam(TM) system was engineered from the ground up to treat tumors with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

source: Market Watch

Brainlab’s ExacTrac® System Achieves Major Sales Milestone

Munich, January 11, 2012 – Today Brainlab announced the 500th sale of its ExacTrac® patient positioning system for frameless radiosurgery. The scale of uptake highlights physicians continued focus on adopting clinically proven systems for high-precision cancer treatments and their ongoing investment in ensuring access to advanced radiation therapy for patients.

The ExacTrac® system, first developed almost a decade ago, has been proven consistent and reliable in supporting accurate frameless radiosurgery for patients with tumors of the brain, spine and beyond. The system has since been internationally recognized as offering high accuracy, flexibility and increased patient comfort during treatment.

ExacTrac® works by combining with advanced radiosurgery treatment systems to allow physicians to treat cancers using a frameless radiosurgery technique. This offers a valuable alternative to the historical practice that requires immobilization with an invasive head ring affixed to the skull. The advanced image guidance and computer-driven optimization of ExacTrac® enables physicians to control every step of the treatment pathway, improving workflow and flexibility of treatment planning.

Samuel Ryu, M.D., Director of Radiation Oncology at the Henry Ford Health System, USA, comments on the evolution of cancer treatment to frameless radiosurgery:

'We have transitioned to frameless radiosurgery after conducting thorough scientific verifications of the precision of the technique. We have now widely adopted the technique and are applying protocols to treat more than 99 percent of our patients frameless.'

source: Brainlab

Evolving URMC Studies Uphold Precision Radiation to Control Cancer

The University of Rochester Medical Center has been a leader in the study of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for the past decade, and two of the latest research projects show that SBRT is emerging as an important tool for more people with advanced cancer.

Alan W. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., and Michael T. Milano, M.D., Ph.D., in separate studies in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, report that SBRT can lead to long-term survival for liver cancer patients who are awaiting a transplant, and for select patients with early metastasis of many types of cancer.

Their work is the latest from a body of research conducted at the URMC’s James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, which was among the first institutions in the country to use SBRT. The therapy delivers high doses of radiation precisely to the tumor without harming adjacent tissues. Doctors use a coordinate system to map their target, and then deliver multiple, intersecting radiation beams at the spot, like several flashlights focused in one area. Because of their early use of this technology, Wilmot scientists have been able to study patients for longer periods under a variety of circumstances.
Michael T. Milano, M.D.

“Although we have known for quite some time that it is possible to treat metastatic disease, the technology needed to catch up to the concept,” said Milano, an associate professor of Radiation Oncology at Wilmot. “Now, physicians have a greater comfort level with SBRT due to treatment and imaging technology that can pinpoint smaller tumors, and data from our institution and others showing that SBRT works very well in certain cases.”

source: University of Rochester Medical Center

Varian Medical Systems Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for Software that Speeds Up Radiotherapy Treatment Planning

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) has received FDA 510(k) clearance for a new radiotherapy treatment planning tool designed to work with the company's market leading Eclipse™ treatment planning software to reduce the amount of time needed for planning advanced treatments.

"In order to create a customized treatment plan, a clinician must take the patient's anatomical images and identify and outline the tumor and nearby organs in a process called contouring. This is critical when specifying what is to be irradiated or protected during radiotherapy treatments," said Jefferson Amacker, director, clinical solutions. "Traditionally, contouring has been a time-consuming process."

Varian has combined two techniques in Smart Segmentation Knowledge Based Contouring, making it possible for clinicians to accomplish the contouring process more quickly:

1) Smart Segmentation, which analyzes anatomical images, drawing on information about human anatomy to identify and outline organs and other structures,
and

2) Knowledge Based Contouring, which allows the clinician to start the planning process by drawing on a library of expertly pre-contoured images that have important anatomical structures already outlined. The clinician then follows a special process for matching these pre-contoured images with those of the patient to create the desired contours.

source: Varian

Study Highlights CyberKnife Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT): Noninvasive Brachytherapy-like Treatment for Prostate Cancer

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Accuray Incorporated ARAY -0.45% , the premier radiation oncology company, today announced publication of a study describing the clinical outcomes of prostate cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) using Accuray's CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System in a manner that uniquely mimics HDR (high dose rate) brachytherapy dosing within the prostate gland. The University of California--San Francisco (UCSF) study, published in the January 2012 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology - Biology - Physics (IJROBP) (commonly known as the Red Journal), employed a radiation dose scheme mimicking that of conventional invasive HDR brachytherapy to deliver high doses of radiation to regions of the prostate known to have a higher burden of prostate cancer cells instead of delivering a single uniform dose to the prostate. Patients with organ confined prostate cancer were treated in four short outpatient treatment sessions. Historically, HDR brachytherapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for prostate cancer, but requires the insertion of invasive catheters into the prostate making this treatment difficult for patients and technically challenging for physicians, limiting its widespread adoption. The CyberKnife System is able to easily and quickly mimic this proven treatment in a noninvasive manner because of its ability to easily create and paint complex doses within the prostate.

The study, "Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy as Monotherapy or Post-External Beam Radiotherapy Boost for Prostate Cancer: Technique, Early Toxicity, and PSA Response," reported on 38 patients ranging in age from 54 to 82 years with a minimum follow-up of 12 months. Twenty of the 38 patients were treated with CyberKnife SBRT monotherapy and 18 were treated with CyberKnife SBRT boost following external beam radiotherapy (EBRT).

source: MarketWatch

Proton therapy effective prostate cancer treatment

Proton therapy, a type of external beam radiation therapy, is a safe and effective treatment for prostate cancer, according to two new studies published in the January issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics (Red Journal), the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) official scientific journal.

In the first study, researchers at the University of Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., prospectively studied 211 men with low-, intermediate-, and high-risk prostate cancer. The men were treated with proton therapy, a specialized type of external beam radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. After a two year follow-up, the research team led by Nancy Mendenhall, MD, of the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute, reported that the treatment was effective and that the gastrointestinal and genitourinary side effects were generally minimal.

“This study is important because it will help set normal tissue guidelines in future trials,” Dr. Mendenhall, said.

In the second study, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, Calif., and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group in Philadelphia performed a case-matched analysis comparing high-dose external beam radiation therapy using a combination of photons (X-rays) and protons with brachytherapy (radioactive seed implants).

source: ASTRO