GUIDING TREATMENTS WITH CONE-BEAM CT
At the Texas Cancer Clinic, Bradley R. Prestidge, MD, medical director, is pioneering the use of Acuity-generated cone-beam CT images, which show anatomy in three dimensions, to guide his HDR brachytherapy procedures. He can place catheters, acquire images for treatment planning, and deliver a treatment in as little as 30 minutes, without leaving the operating room.

“We’ve used cone-beam CT so far for breast cancer, gynecological cancer, and prostate cancer,” says Prestidge. “It’s very convenient—a matter of imaging for a minute and waiting 30 seconds for the software to reconstruct the three-dimensional image that we use to guide the treatment. That’s a 90-second process, so it doesn’t add significantly to time spent in the operating room.” At most treatment centers, patients must be sent out of the room for CT imaging after completion of the procedure, too late for any necessary adjustments.

With imaging capabilities and Varian’s BrachyVision™ software in the operating room, doctors can see the effect of each placement on dose distribution and adjust placements as they work to make the treatment more precise.

FOCUSING ON QUALITY OF LIFE
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Werner Thiele’s big concern was maintaining his quality of life. Repeatedly he was told his only option was surgery that would likely leave him impotent and/or incontinent. A successful risk manager and security consultant, Werner explored his options. He found what he was looking for at University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel, Germany. Now, four years after brachytherapy, Werner says he lives a normal, active life.

Doctors at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein have performed about 1,800 brachytherapy treatments using Varian devices. They specialize in an approach called intensity-modulated brachytherapy (IMBT).

According to György Kovács, MD, PhD, professor and vice chairman of the Clinic for Radiotherapy and head of the Interdisciplinary Brachytherapy Centre at University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, IMBT places sources at different spots within a catheter to achieve more precise dose distribution. This carefully planned approach enabled him to save the eye of a young woman with a sinus tumor. “The standard surgical therapy would have involved removal of the eye,” he says. “Today, eight years later, this woman has no tumor and no disturbance in her vision.”

Brachytherapy solutions from Varian Medical Systems are used in 1,825 treatment centers worldwide. Used alone or with external beam therapy, brachytherapy is offering new hope for patients and gaining recognition as a viable and highly targeted approach to treating many types of cancer.

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