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Mr McCormack, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in June, has had histreatment slot reduced by 25% due to the introduction of RapidArc, with evengreater savings in 'beam-on' time. "It is very exciting to be the firstpatient in the country to benefit from this new treatment," says Mr McCormack."I'm still employed as a sales executive within the air cargo business whichkeeps me very active, so the prospect of having the treatment in less time wasvery appealing. The treatment itself is over in minutes."
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"RapidArc is a major advance in radiotherapy technology that will changethe way radiotherapy is planned and delivered for selected patients," saysAngela Heaton, research radiographer at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology."The benefit to patients is significant -- not only will they need to lie onthe treatment table for considerably less time but we may also be able totreat more patients as treatment times are reduced."
With RapidArc, Varian's Clinac(R) medical linear accelerator can targetradiation beams at a tumor while making one continuous rotation around thepatient. Conventional intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatments areslower and more difficult for radiotherapy radiographers because they targettumors using a complex sequence of fixed beams from multiple angles.
According to Angela Heaton, the 'beam-on' time for Mr McCormack wasreduced from nearly four minutes with conventional IMRT to just 1 minute 10seconds with RapidArc. The total time he spent in the treatment room wasreduced from over ten minutes to eight and a half minutes. In addition, theRapidArc prostate plan resulted in a better dose distribution and avoidance oforgans at risk, she said. "Shortly we intend to start using RapidArc forcomplex head & neck cancer treatments and we expect the beam-on time will bereduced from 25 minutes using IMRT to about two and a half minutes using twoarcs with RapidArc, resulting in more efficient treatments and potentiallyshortening waiting lists," she said.
RapidArc technology allows more control to conform the dose more closelyto the size, shape, and location of the tumor. Faster treatment alsocontributes to precision by reducing the time for motion within the anatomy,and laboratory studies suggest that faster dose delivery may kill some cancercells more effectively.
"Patient care is at the heart of everything we do so the decision toinvest in this equipment was very straightforward," says Brian Haylock,clinical director at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology. "By using this state-of-the-art technology we can speed up the time of some of our most complextreatments and in doing so we will be able to treat more patients comfortablywith less stress to the individual. The treatment technique also has the addedadvantage of reducing the probability of the patient moving during treatment,as repositioning can make the treatment even longer."
Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology employs 650 staff and providesspecialist radiotherapy, chemotherapy and rehabilitation services. One of theUK's leading cancer centres, it serves over two million people in the Wirral,north Cheshire and Liverpool area.
RapidArc delivers a volumetric intensity-modulated radiation therapytreatment in a single or multiple arcs of the treatment machine around thepatient and makes it possible to deliver advanced image-guided IMRT two toeight times faster than is possible with conventional IMRT. Radiotherapystudies correlate the ability to spare more healthy tissue with reducedcomplications and better outcomes.
Editorial contact: Neil Madle, Varian Medical Systems, +44 7786 526068
About Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world'sleading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer andother medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, andbrachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managingcomprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncologypractices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and alsosupplies X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection.Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 4,800 people who are located atmanufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 60 sales andsupport offices around the world. For more information, visithttp://www.varian.com/.
SOURCE Varian Medical Systems, Inc.
