Palo Alto, CA - April 8, 2003 - Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VAR)announced today that it expects earnings per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 2003 to be up by 35 to 40 percent over the $0.34 reported in the year-ago quarter, well ahead of its previous growth estimates of about 26 percent for the quarter. The better than expected earnings growth reflects a much stronger than anticipated recovery in the X-Ray Products business for the quarter. The company is also reporting continued strength in its Oncology Systems business. The strong quarter puts annual company earnings per diluted share for fiscal 2003 on track to grow by 29 to 31 percent over fiscal 2002 totals. The company reported that it expects its net orders for the second quarter to grow by about 27 percent over the year-ago quarter with healthy gains in both the X-Ray Products and Oncology Systems businesses. Company sales for the second quarter are expected to climb by about 20 percent over the year-ago quarter, and the backlog as of the end of the second quarter is estimated to be about 22 percent higher than the same time last year. "Our X-Ray Products business had its best sales quarter ever," said Richard Levy, chairman, president, and CEO of Varian Medical Systems. "Second quarter net orders for our Oncology Systems business are expected to be in the range of 20 percent higher than year-ago totals, with North American net orders comprising about 66 percent of the total." Varian Medical Systems is scheduled to announce its results for the second quarter at 1 p.m. PT on Wednesday, April 23, 2003 with a conference call to follow at 2 p.m. PT. The conference call can be accessed via the web at http://investor.varian.com or via telephone at 1-800-299-9086 for domestic calls with confirmation code 3407881 or 1-617-786-2903 for international calls with confirmation code 3407881.