| From: JCKnight | 12/13/2005 3:26:32 PM | | | | | | SAMARA, Russia, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Samara Oncology Center in Russia is moving to initiate advanced cancer treatment programs, including image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), using new equipment ordered from Varian Medical Systems VAR. The cancer center has ordered Russia's first Varian On-Board Imager(TM) for treating its patients with IGRT, which improves precision by tracking and adjusting for tumor motion.
To help support these and other new cancer treatment programs, Varian Medical Systems -- the world leader in radiotherapy technology -- has opened its first sales and service office in Russia |
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| To: shoe who wrote (160) | 2/16/2006 10:33:56 AM | | From: Peter Dierks | | | | I changed my mind about VAR. It is currently part of my long term strategic portfolio. I bought back the shares I had sold after a dip. It is hovering near 60. If it popped to 65 soon, I made trade some shares out and hope to buy back on another dip.
The aging baby boomers will demand more Cancer treatment. The 3 D radiation treatment is getting more use. |
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| From: Peter Dierks | 3/6/2006 5:22:38 PM | | | | | | New Varian High-Precision X-ray Imaging Device Significantly Reduces Time Needed for Complex Neurosurgical Treatment at Top UK Cancer Center
CLATTERBRIDGE, England, March 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Clinicians at the UK's Clatterbridge Center for Oncology have carried out their first routine stereotactic neurosurgical treatment using a Varian linear accelerator equipped with a new device for enhancing precision using 3D X-ray images.
A 40-year-old female patient with a solitary brain metastasis received a single session of radiosurgery on a Varian Clinac(R) linear accelerator equipped with an On-Board Imager(TM) to track the exact location of the lesion. The On-Board Imager device enabled clinicians at Clatterbridge to pinpoint the location of the tumor using special conebeam CT images and then complete the treatment in less than an hour. Until now, this type of special treatment took up to four hours.
"The time-consuming nature of this sort of treatment has meant that we would normally have had to carry it out in the evening on specialized machines, after our routine work has been completed," says Angela Heaton, research radiographer at Clatterbridge. "It could take up to two hours to check calibrations before we could even begin treating and the whole process could take several hours, which was inconvenient for both the patient and staff and made it a relatively difficult treatment."
She said stereotactic treatments could be further delayed when there was the need for neurosurgeons to attend and screw a head fixation device into the patient's skull in order to keep them in place for up to four hours. Doctors said the new imaging treatment process makes it possible to avoid this uncomfortable and time-consuming step for their patients.
Dr Brian Haylock, the center's clinical director, said the conebeam CT capability would be extremely useful in validating the accuracy of different methods of head fixation used, which is vital in brain treatments. "I was very impressed with the accuracy and ease of use of the On- Board Imager's CBCT imaging capability. It seemed very efficient," he said, following the treatment.
The patient selected for this pioneering treatment had previous whole brain surgery for two brain metastases from an inoperable renal tumor in August last year and although the primary tumor has not progressed, her long- term prognosis is still poor. A new 25mm lesion had recently developed in the right fronto-parietal region of the brain and was causing the onset of facial palsy and headaches from oedema, which meant treating the lesion could greatly improve her quality of life.
Using the Clinac accelerator's 120-leaf multileaf collimator to shape a 1.5mm beam, clinicians delivered a 15Gy stereotactic radiosurgery treatment from eight angles, carefully checking the patient's head position between each treatment field. The entire treatment took less than an hour -- about 20 minutes for patient positioning on the couch using a head-frame, two minutes for conebeam CT image acquisition, a further five minutes for online image matching and about 20 minutes for treatment delivery.
"At present we could expect to do between ten and twelve such treatments a year," adds Dr Haylock. "These patients have previously been treated out of hours because of time constraints so this did not become routine. It's now important that we do everything we can to improve the efficiency as well as maintain treatment accuracy and improve patient comfort. That's why we want to move all our stereotactic procedures across to the Varian machine, which also has the versatility to handle routine radiotherapy treatments when it is not being used for neurosurgical cases."
Walter Frei, head of Varian's Oncology Systems business in Europe, said, "In busy public healthcare systems in Europe, where quality of care coupled with speed and efficiency are critical, this type of new approach is proving a huge leap forward for the treatment of neurosurgery patients."
About Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., (NYSE: VAR) of Palo Alto, California is the world's leading supplier of equipment and software for treating cancer. The company is also a premier supplier of components including X-ray tubes and flat-panel detectors for medical, scientific, and industrial imaging. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 3,280 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 55 sales and support offices around the world. The company operates manufacturing and engineering centers in Baden (Switzerland), Crawley (England), Haan (Germany), Helsinki (Finland) and Toulouse (France) and has headquarters for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEA) based in Zug, Switzerland. Additional information is available on the company's web site at www.varian.com
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this press release regarding future business, events, plans, objectives, expectations, estimates, and other similar matters, including, but not limited to, statements using the terms "can" and "expect," constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, the risks described in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports filed from time to time by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements because of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Contact: Neil Madle of Varian Medical Systems, +44-7786-526068.
SOURCE Varian Medical Systems, Inc.
News Provided by Acquire Media Corporation |
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| From: Peter Dierks | 4/3/2006 8:51:59 PM | | | | | | Varian Medical Systems Schedules Second Quarter FY2006 News Release and Conference Call
PALO ALTO, Calif., April 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) announced today that it will report financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2006 following the close of regular trading on Tuesday, April 25, 2006. The news release will be followed by a teleconference available to all interested parties at 2:00 p.m. PT.
The Varian Medical Systems quarterly results can be accessed on April 25, 2006 via:
News Release: Contact Anne Rambo via phone at 650-424-5834 or via e-mail at anne.rambo@varian.com to have a copy of the news release faxed, or visit the Varian website at varian.com .
Internet Simulcast: www.varian.com/investor
Teleconference: . Telephone from within the U.S.:
- Dial 1-866-383-8003 and enter access code 40198688 prior to the call at 2:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. ET. Telephone from outside the U.S.:
- Dial 1-617-597-5330 and enter access code 401-98688 prior to the call at 2:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. ET.
*Note: If the number of lines allocated to the call is exhausted, the webcast or replay should be utilized.
Replay: The teleconference will be rebroadcast until 8:00pm, ET, Friday, April 28, 2006 and can be accessed by phone or Web link as follows:
- Telephone from within the U.S.: Dial 1-888-286-8010 and enter access code 35257172.
- Telephone from outside the U.S.: Dial 1-617-801-6888 and enter access code 3527172.
- Internet: click on the "Quarterly Conference Call" icon on the company's investor relations website at www.varian.com/investor.
Additional information about Varian Medical Systems can be obtained on the company's website. Investors can subscribe to receive automatic "e-mail alerts" regarding Varian news and events via the company website at www.varian.com/investor.
Varian Medical Systems, Inc. of Palo Alto, California is the world's leading supplier of equipment and software for treating cancer. The company is also a premier supplier of components including X-ray tubes and flat-panel detectors for medical, scientific, and industrial imaging. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 3,500 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 55 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit www.varian.com.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Spencer Sias, 650-424-5782
Vice President, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
spencer.sias@varian.com
SOURCE Varian Medical Systems, Inc.
News Provided by Acquire Media Corporation |
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| From: JakeStraw | 7/17/2006 10:27:33 AM | | | | | | Scottish Hospital to Offer Cancer Patients Advanced Radiotherapy Treatments With New Equipment and Software from Varian Medical Systems
biz.yahoo.com
Monday July 17, 5:00 am ET
GLASGOW, Scotland, July 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cancer patients in Scotland will have access to the full range of state-of-the-art radiotherapy treatments with the acquisition of advanced new equipment and software by the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow as part of a purchasing wave by the Scottish Executive. Varian has been chosen to supply all the medical linear accelerators awarded to date within this centralised procurement managed by Scottish Healthcare Supplies.
When three new Varian Clinac® iX accelerators are installed at the amalgamated West of Scotland Cancer Centre early in 2007, it will become the largest radiotherapy unit in the United Kingdom, with eleven accelerators in total. Varian is also supplying the hospital with two On-Board Imager® devices for modern image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) treatments, three RPM(TM) respiratory gating systems, an Acuity® iX 3D imaging system for brachytherapy planning and verification and three GammaMed(TM) afterloaders for high dose rate (HDR) and pulsed dose rate (PDR) brachytherapy treatments.
The hospital is also installing Varian's advanced radiotherapy software with an upgraded VARiSVision information management network and ten new Eclipse(TM) treatment planning workstations.
Professor Alan Rodger, the Beatson's medical director, says, "This will give us the equipment base to offer our patients the full range of external beam and brachytherapy radiotherapy treatments. Our equipment choice was based on a very rigorous selection process that involved multi-disciplinary teams from across the hospital.
"We wanted the very best equipment to meet our needs, some level of future-proofing so that we do not buy machines that are antiques within two to three years, and value for money as well. This equipment is at the cutting edge of what radiotherapy has to offer and we are looking forward to working closely with Varian to expand the possibilities still further."
As part of the hospital's research and development efforts, the Beatson Research Fund has funded a physicist, a radiographer and a clinician to advance research into IGRT and respiratory gating using one of the new machines. Image Guided Radiotherapy enables more precise tumor targeting through better imaging and automatic patient repositioning on a daily basis and respiratory gating enables clinicians to time the treatment beam delivery in sync with the patient's normal breathing pattern. The centre will also be expanding its existing program of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), a more precise form of radiotherapy that enables clinicians to increase doses while reducing exposure to healthy surrounding tissue.
Through its new equipment acquisitions, the Beatson will be at the leading edge of Image-Guided Brachytherapy (IGBT), a relatively fast treatment in which doctors use advanced imaging capability to more precisely place radiation sources within tumors. The hospital is expanding its brachytherapy program with a new multi-room suite that will be equipped with Varian's Acuity(TM) imaging system as well as several new afterloaders for high dose rate and pulsed dose rate procedures. In addition to supporting brachytherapy, the new Acuity imaging system, which provides radiographic, fluoroscopic and 3D conebeam CT images, will be used for planning, simulating and verifying external beam treatments including IMRT and IGRT.
Walter Frei, head of Varian's Oncology Systems business in Europe, said, "The West of Scotland Cancer Centre will be among the largest and most prestigious of its type in Europe and our equipment will help the hospital to expand the range of radiotherapy options it can offer Scottish cancer patients. We look forward to continuing to support doctors and patients in Scotland."
The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, which has 60 percent of the Scottish population in its catchment area, will be housed in a single state-of-the-art unit at Gartnavel General Hospital by early next year. Phase 1 of the new centre, the Tom Wheldon building, is already in use and houses five linear accelerators. The second phase, currently under construction, brings together all oncology services currently spread across a number of sites in the North Glasgow area. |
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| From: JakeStraw | 7/25/2006 10:18:57 AM | | | | | | Top Malaysian Cancer Center Begins Treatments Using World's Most Versatile and Advanced Radiotherapy Machine
biz.yahoo.com
Thursday July 20, 5:00 am ET
NILAI, Malaysia, July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A leading cancer center in Malaysia has begun offering patients state-of-the-art radiotherapy treatments using a new Trilogy® linear accelerator from Varian Medical Systems. The NCI Cancer Hospital in Nilai, south of Kuala Lumpur, has launched treatment programs offering the latest in high-precision radiotherapy techniques, including intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery.
More than 40 patients have been treated on the versatile, all-in-one Trilogy machine since treatments started in the middle of April. Prior to acquiring the Trilogy system, the hospital only had a low-energy linear accelerator that limited the treatments they could offer.
"The new system is marvelous because it enables us to offer our patients treatments that could not have been done here before," said Dr. Govindaraju Selvaratnam, the hospital's medical director. "The additional accuracy of IMRT using the Trilogy has given us the confidence to boost doses to the tumor because we know we're reducing doses to adjacent critical structures. We can reach dose levels with the Trilogy that we simply couldn't before and our patients are benefiting as a result."
Dr. Selvaratnam added that as well as launching standard IMRT programs for prostrate, breast and head/neck cancer patients, the Trilogy accelerator enabled his team to handle more difficult and challenging cases, such as large-field treatments to target tumor recurrence in the chest wall and treating tumors in the esophagus and large sarcomas. "With Trilogy we can address huge treatment fields of a size that we never believed we would be able to achieve here at NCI," he added.
He said his radiographers routinely used the Trilogy's On-Board Imager® device to check and, if necessary, adjust the position of the patient at every treatment session. In August, the hospital will begin a stereotactic program involving powerful treatments in one-to-five sessions to control metastatic outbreaks. Shortly afterwards they plan to begin 3D imaging using the On-Board Imager's conebeam CT imaging mode as well as treatments using respiratory gating, whereby the treatment beam is automatically switched on and off in tandem with a patient's normal breathing cycle.
Dr. Selvaratnam and his team are currently treating approximately 22 patients a day on the Trilogy linear accelerator. The private NCI Cancer Hospital handles up to 800 new cancer patients each year, half of them from the nation's capital Kuala Lumpur.
Varian Medical Systems' Trilogy medical linear accelerator is the most versatile machine of its type in the world, with the capability of offering all standard radiation therapies as well advanced treatments that make it possible to concentrate greater doses on tumors while protecting surrounding healthy tissue. It is expected to help doctors to improve cure rates for patients while reducing treatment complications.
"Trilogy is the first practical, clinically-viable linear accelerator that is capable of delivering all forms of external-beam radiation therapy," said Dow Wilson, head of Varian's Oncology Systems business. "It enables doctors to choose and use the most appropriate treatment modality for treating cancer in the body or the head and neck, and to deliver the full spectrum of treatments, all on one machine in a single room." |
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| From: JakeStraw | 7/25/2006 10:20:25 AM | | | | | | Varian Medical Systems to Exhibit the Company's Industry-Leading System for Planning Radiotherapy Treatments
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Monday July 24, 8:00 am ET
Eclipse(TM) software system speeds up treatment planning and expedites clinical adoption of the most modern cancer treatment techniques
PALO ALTO, Calif., July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), the world leader in cancer therapy technology, will exhibit the company's industry-leading Eclipse(TM) radiotherapy treatment planning system at the 48th annual meeting of The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) taking place in Orlando, Florida from July 30 to August 3. Varian will also sponsor two special events in connection with the meeting.
Eclipse is the market's most comprehensive and versatile treatment planning program, capable of producing plans for conventional radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), brachytherapy, and proton radiotherapy. The system incorporates numerous time-saving features like disease-specific planning protocols and easy-to-use optimization tools that make it easier and faster to plan sophisticated cancer treatments.
"With Eclipse, we've given clinics the capabilities they need to offer advanced treatments including IGRT, in addition to supporting the full range of more conventional treatments," says Dow Wilson, president of Varian's Oncology Systems business.
Ron Lalonde, PhD, chief scientific officer for D3 Advanced Radiation Planning Services in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, uses multiple treatment planning systems to produce IMRT plans for clinical customers around the country. He says: "Dose calculation with Eclipse is twice as fast" as other programs he uses. "Because 99 percent of our plans are for IMRT, we do things that are fairly dose calculation intensive. There is no question that the fluence optimization process with Eclipse has improved our IMRT planning. Because it's interactive, you can tweak the plans on the fly and generate better plans more rapidly."
Features that Expedite Planning
Eclipse incorporates a set of tools that streamline the process of creating a personalized plan for each patient, including: a customizable library of clinical protocols and treatment plan templates, remote planning capabilities, a tool for specifying normal tissue dose constraints, an interactive dose visualization display, and an automated segmentation tool that automates the contouring step in which doctors separate diseased tissues from surrounding healthy organs on 3-D diagnostic images.
"Eclipse's contouring tools help smooth the process," says Jerry Soen, director of medical physics at the Northern Illinois Medical Center.
Varian-Sponsored Events at AAPM
In addition to its exhibit on the trade show floor, Varian Medical Systems will sponsor the following two special events:
-- Saturday, July 29, 7:00 am - 5:00 pm: Users meeting for the Eclipse
treatment planning system and the On-Board Imager® device for
image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), an all-day event where technology
users can share successes, discover best practices, learn from expert
colleagues and increase their expertise
(http://www.varian.com/AAPMusersmeeting).
-- Sunday, July 30, 6:30 - 9:30 pm: Symposium entitled: "Multi-Dimensional
Dose Conformality," on how imaging is transforming the practice of
radiation therapy (http://www.varian.com/symposium) . |
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| From: JakeStraw | 7/27/2006 8:11:30 AM | | | | | | Varian Medical Systems Reports Robust Growth for Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2006
biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday July 26, 4:01 pm ET
Varian Medical Systems Reports Third Quarter Net Earnings Per Diluted Share of $0.49 ($0.46 Per Diluted Share Excluding Impact of Stock Option Expensing and a Tax Benefit)
PALO ALTO, Calif., July 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) today is reporting strong growth in net earnings, revenues, net orders and backlog for the third quarter of fiscal year 2006.
"Compared to the same period last fiscal year, third-quarter revenues grew 14 percent to $396 million, net orders rose 19 percent to $443 million, and the quarter-ending backlog increased 22 percent to $1.3 billion," said Tim Guertin, president and CEO of Varian Medical Systems. "Excluding option expensing and a one-time tax benefit from repatriation of foreign earnings, third quarter net earnings per diluted share grew by a very strong 24 percent over the year-ago quarter."
The company generated net earnings of $66 million or $0.49 per diluted share for the quarter. Excluding stock option expenses totaling $0.05 per diluted share, and the one-time tax benefit of $0.08 per diluted share, net earnings for the third quarter were $62 million or $0.46 per diluted share (including a $0.02 tax benefit from the release of tax reserves related to the lapse of the statute of limitations in certain domestic jurisdictions). Net earnings for the third quarter of fiscal year 2005 were $51 million or $0.37 per diluted share.
"New products for image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for cancer, stereotactic radiosurgery, filmless X-rays, and security and inspection contributed to significant growth in net orders in all of our business segments," Guertin added.
The company generated strong cash flow from operations in the third quarter, ending the period with $371 million in cash and marketable securities. During the period, $75 million was spent to repurchase 1.5 million shares of common stock and $9 million was invested in the dpiX consortium to build a new semiconductor fab for the thin film transistor arrays used in digital image detectors for filmless X-rays.
Oncology Systems
Oncology Systems' third quarter revenues totaled $331 million, up 14 percent from the third quarter of last fiscal year. This business recorded third quarter net orders of $374 million, up 15 percent from the same period last year with 14 percent growth in North America and 17 percent growth in international markets.
"We believe we have expanded our share in radiation oncology and enhanced our leadership in IGRT," Guertin said. "We now have shipped more than 250 of our On-board Imager device for image-guided treatments. Our IGRT technology has been embraced by customers and is clearly moving into mainstream adoption. Doctors around the world are using our IGRT products to treat primary and metastatic cancers in virtually every part of the body, including the lung, prostate, breast, brain, liver, head and neck, and pancreas," Guertin said.
"Higher ramp-up costs to support rapid growth for the On-Board Imager device, a larger mix of international shipments, and an in increase in revenue deferrals pending completion of installations, contributed to a decline in gross margin for this business and the company during the quarter," said Guertin. "This was largely offset on our bottom line by slower growth in selling expenses and a lower corporate tax rate due to higher earnings in international jurisdictions."
X-Ray Products
Revenues for the X-Ray Products business, including X-ray tubes and flat panel digital image detectors for filmless X-rays, were $56 million for the third quarter, up 15 percent from the year-ago quarter. The X-Ray Products business recorded third quarter net orders of $61 million, up 37 percent from the same period last year, driven by dramatic growth in the flat panel product line.
"Revenues from shipments of our digital image detectors more than doubled versus the year-ago period, driven by accelerated demand for filmless imaging medical diagnostics, dental CT scanning, and veterinary care," Guertin said. "This business has continued to ramp up at a tremendous rate and new construction to expand manufacturing capacity for this product line is on schedule."
Other Businesses
The company's Security and Inspection Products business and the Ginzton Technology Center reported combined third quarter revenues of $9 million, up slightly from the total for the same period last fiscal year. "Net orders for the security and inspection business almost doubled in this third quarter versus the year-ago period," Guertin said.
Outlook
"For fiscal year 2006, we continue to believe that total company revenues should increase by about 14 percent above the fiscal 2005 total," Guertin said. "We are raising our expectations for growth in net earnings per diluted share for fiscal year 2006 to 18 to 19 percent over the fiscal year 2005 total, excluding the impact of expensing stock options and the one-time repatriation tax benefit.
"Very preliminary estimates for fiscal year 2007 indicate that total company revenue should increase in the low-double digits over the total for fiscal year 2006," Guertin added. "Net earnings per diluted share for fiscal year 2007 should grow at a mid-teens rate over the totals for fiscal year 2006 excluding the impact of stock option expensing and the one-time repatriation tax benefit."
The company expects that the annual impact of stock option expensing will be in the range of $0.19 to $0.22 per diluted share for both fiscal year 2006 and fiscal 2007 |
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| From: JakeStraw | 7/27/2006 8:21:24 AM | | | | | | Varian Medical Systems Reports Rapid Adoption of the Company's Technology for Image-Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT)
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Thursday July 27, 8:00 am ET
Over 250 On-Board Imager(TM) Devices Shipped to Cancer Clinics Around the World; On-Board Imager Devices Now Included in More Than 60 Percent of New Machine Orders
PALO ALTO, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) today announced that the company has shipped more than 250 of its On-Board Imager(TM) devices for image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and that more than 60 percent of orders for new treatment machines include this accessory. Varian's On-Board Imager (OBI) offers three imaging modalities that make it possible to pinpoint the exact location of the targeted tumor every day prior to treatment; note any changes in tumor size, shape, or position; and track tumor motion in order to enhance treatment precision.
"We are seeing tremendous demand for our image-guided radiotherapy machines with the On-Board Imager-both at freestanding clinics as well as at hospitals and large academic centers," said Timothy Guertin, president and CEO. "IGRT is clearly moving into the medical mainstream. Because the On-Board Imager yields two-dimensional images, 3-D cone-beam CT images, and fluoroscopic moving images, it's the most versatile IGRT tool available and doctors have been capitalizing on all of those capabilities to enhance the quality of patient care."
Clinical Examples of IGRT
Since its introduction in early 2004, the On-Board Imager has been used by doctors in a variety of ways:
In Latham, New York, Arun Puranik, MD, is using the OBI device's cone-beam CT imaging mode to position his prostate cancer patients, reporting that it's "the fastest, most accurate technique I have seen for localizing the prostate every day prior to treatment. CT guidance gives us the ability to spare the penile bulb for potency preservation."
Arno J. Mundt, MD, Professor and Chairman of the Radiation Oncology Department at the University of California at San Diego, says, "I was an ultrasound user before this, and I've switched." Today, he is using the radiographic 2-D imaging mode for positioning every gynecological patient and to detect implanted markers on every prostate cancer patient treated in his department.
For some of his older breast cancer patients, Michael Greenberg, MD, medical director of the Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, is using markers, the OBI unit's fluoroscopic imaging mode, and Varian's respiratory gating product to complete a course of radiotherapy in just one week. The added accuracy he can achieve makes it possible for him to deliver higher daily doses over a shorter course of treatment.
At Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, Jerome Landry, MD treated a 68-year-old man for gall bladder cancer using the OBI unit, radio-opaque clips, and respiratory gating to locate and accurately target tumor sites and to adjust for tumor motion during treatment.
And at the MIMA Cancer Center in Melbourne, Florida, Todd Scarbrough, MD, treated a 64-year-old lung cancer patient with a small metastatic lesion in his liver with stereotactic radiosurgery. In this case the clinical team combined 3D cone-beam CT and radiographic imaging on the OBI unit to zero in on the tumor site and position the patient for treatment. Respiratory gating was used to account for tumor motion.
"It's clear that radiation oncology is rapidly embracing IGRT as a crucial aid to enhancing the accuracy, effectiveness and reach of radiotherapy," said Guertin. "IGRT is making it possible for more patients to receive advanced treatments such as IMRT and stereotactic radiotherapy and opening the door to treatment of early stage metastatic disease."
There are more than 5,800 radiotherapy centers worldwide, and Varian equips 60 percent of these centers with its integrated and automated radiotherapy systems |
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| From: JakeStraw | 7/27/2006 8:22:33 AM | | | | | | University of Pennsylvania Health System to Equip New Cancer Treatment and Research Center with Technology from Varian Medical Systems
biz.yahoo.com
Thursday July 27, 8:05 am ET
Varian to provide full spectrum of products for delivering advanced, targeted radiotherapies
PALO ALTO, Calif., July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS), which is building a new world-class cancer treatment and research center, has selected, for its center, advanced cancer radiotherapy treatment technology from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), including:
-- four Clinac iX(TM) accelerators equipped with On-Board Imager(TM)
devices for image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), and high-resolution 120-
leaf multileaf collimators, which are beam shaping devices that make it
possible to deliver SmartBeam(TM) IMRT treatments,
-- an Acuity(TM) digital imaging device for treatment simulation and
verification,
-- 20 Eclipse® treatment planning workstations for planning all types of
external beam radiotherapy, including 3-D conformal, intensity-
modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), and
proton treatments
-- the xArray(TM) optical guidance system for ultra-accurate patient
positioning,
-- accessories for delivering stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS),
-- RPM(TM) respiratory gating for synchronizing imaging and treatment with
a patient's respiratory cycle, in order to deal with tumor motion
during treatment, and
-- the ARIA(TM) oncology information system for managing administrative
and clinical information.
These products will be integrated within a new state-of-the-art cancer treatment facility being built as part of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine (CAM), a $302 million center now under construction.
"UPHS is committed to providing cancer patients with the best care available anywhere in the world," said Michael J. Dandorph, senior vice president for business development at UPHS. "Our clinicians feel Varian's technology for delivering advanced forms of external-beam photon radiotherapy is unmatched for its power, precision, and versatility in treating the complex cancers we often encounter. The Varian products will enable our clinicians to design and deliver very personalized cancer treatments that zero in on malignancies and spare normal healthy tissues to the extent possible with IMRT technology."
"By assembling this complete set of interconnecting radiotherapy tools from Varian, UPHS is putting together a fully automated and integrated treatment and data network that will speed up processes and enable highly accurate treatments to take place quickly and efficiently," said Dow Wilson, president of Varian's Oncology Systems business. "We are delighted to support UPHS in building one of the most advanced, state-of-the-art cancer treatment centers anywhere in the world."
The new UPHS cancer treatment facility is expected to be ready for clinical use some time in 2008. |
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