CTCA installs Calypso's real-time tumor tracking technology at Southwestern Regional Medical Center

Apr 30 2010

Calypso Medical Technologies, Inc., a developer of non-ionizing real-time localization technology used for the precise tracking of tumor targets, and Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), a national network of hospitals providing a comprehensive, fully integrative approach to cancer treatment, announced today that with the installation of the Calypso^® System at the CTCA at Southwestern Regional Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla., Calypso's real-time tumor tracking technology is now available at all CTCA centers nationwide.

“Minimizing the impact of radiation to the healthy tissue and organs surrounding the prostate is likely to reduce side-effects.”

The Calypso System, with its GPS for the Body^® technology, utilizes miniature implanted Beacon^® transponders to provide precise, continuous information on the location of the tumor during external beam radiation therapy. Any movement by the patient, including internal movement of the tumor, may cause the therapeutic radiation to miss its intended target and hit adjacent healthy tissue. In contrast to ionizing tumor targeting methods which cannot track a target in real-time, the Calypso System's non-ionizing solution provides real-time tumor position information, thereby allowing physicians to deliver radiation directly to the tumor while sparing the surrounding healthy organs from radiation exposure. Currently the Calypso System is cleared by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for use in radiation therapy for the prostate and prostatic bed; however, the technology is designed for body-wide applications.

"We are committed to providing patients with state-of-the-art treatments that maintain or improve quality of life," said Steve Mackin, chief executive officer of CTCA at Southwestern Regional Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla. "The Calypso System is a natural fit as it brings the most precise and efficient delivery of radiation to the complex cancers we routinely treat."

"Natural organ motion can cause the tumor target to shift during radiation treatments. However, the Calypso System helps clinicians determine the exact location of the tumor in real-time, without excess radiation, so that only the cancerous cells are exposed to the radiation beam," said Dr. James Flynn, chief of staff and radiation oncologist at CTCA in Tulsa, Okla. "Minimizing the impact of radiation to the healthy tissue and organs surrounding the prostate is likely to reduce side-effects."

Treatment related side effects were assessed in a recent clinical study entitled, "Assessing the Impact of Margin Reduction (AIM)," which was published in Urology. This study demonstrated that prostate tumor tracking utilizing the Calypso System during high-dose intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) allowed physicians to deliver a higher dose of radiation with smaller planning treatment volume (PTV) margins, while reducing treatment-related side effects.

"We're proud of CTCA's decision to standardize on Calypso for prostate radiation patients. CTCA clinicians can now provide Calypso real-time tracking technology to help ensure that radiation is delivered more accurately to cancerous tissue while avoiding healthy tissue and reducing treatment-related side effects," said Eric Meier, president and chief executive officer of Calypso Medical.

In addition to the Tulsa hospital site, Calypso Systems are in use at other CTCA locations in Zion, Ill.; Goodyear, Ariz.; and Philadelphia, Pa.