Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) has received regulatory clearance from the Indian Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for the use of its unique TrueBeam™ High Intensity Mode for advanced radiosurgical treatments. The company's market-leading range of radiotherapy and radiosurgery equipment and software, including the TrueBeam medical linear accelerator, are on display in Kolkata this week at AROICON 2012, the country's primary radiation oncology exhibition.
Dr. Vivek Bansal, director of radiation oncology at HCG Cancer Hospital in Ahmedabad -- the first hospital in India to commence treating patients using the TrueBeam high intensity mode – said, "We have used this modality for prostate, head & neck and lung cancer patients, enabling quicker dose delivery and therefore shorter treatments. Higher dose rates appear to offer considerable benefits in organ motion management -- for example, larger dose fractions have been delivered in a single breath-hold at our center."
"We feel high intensity modes may become necessary for most stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery treatments in the future," said Dr. Bansal. "Our experience is showing that high intensity mode treatments offer particular advantages when treating the smaller field sizes normally seen in such treatments."
Varian's TrueBeam was designed to treat tumors with unprecedented speed and accuracy. It features a multitude of technical innovations that dynamically synchronize imaging, patient positioning, motion management, and treatment delivery. With its High Intensity Mode, TrueBeam machines can deliver very high doses quickly and precisely, more than twice as fast as earlier generations of technology. The TrueBeam™ STx is a high-end model optimized for radiosurgical applications, where very large doses are delivered in a single treatment or only a few sessions.
Such advanced treatments will be highlighted at an Emerging Technologies Symposium that Varian is hosting at the ITC Sonar Hotel on the first day of the AROICON exhibition, with presentations on high dose single-fraction IGRT treatments with TrueBeam STx, RapidArc® for head & neck treatments, and advanced radiobiology and stereotaxy treatments, from presenters including Prof. Carlo Greco of the University of Pisa in Italy, Dr. Luca Cozzi of the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland in Bellinzona, and Dr. Rimpa Basu Achari of Tata Medical Center in Kolkata.
"The high dose rates that only Varian can offer on its medical linear accelerators are vital for the sort of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy treatments that are used increasingly for primary liver, liver metastasis and lung cancer treatments," said Rolf Staehelin, international head of marketing operations for Varian's Oncology Systems group. "Regulatory approval means cancer patients in India can now benefit from such advanced treatments."
"With the largest installed base of linear accelerators in India and market-leading position in new systems, Varian continues to equip the country's cancer hospitals with technologies that make advanced radiotherapy techniques fast and easy to deliver," added Ashok Kakkar, managing director of Varian India. "We have also established a dedicated education center in Mumbai because helping to train the nation's radiotherapists and physicists in the safe and effective use of Varian's products is crucial for the future care of India's growing cancer population."
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