Public Cancer Center Becomes First in South-East Asia to Introduce RapidArc Radiotherapy Treatments From Varian Medical Systems | Varian

{ "pageType": "news-article", "title": "Public Cancer Center Becomes First in South-East Asia to Introduce RapidArc Radiotherapy Treatments From Varian Medical Systems", "articleDate": "17. February 2009", "introText": "", "category": "Oncology" }

Public Cancer Center Becomes First in South-East Asia to Introduce RapidArc Radiotherapy Treatments From Varian Medical Systems

HONG KONG, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Doctors in Hong Kong have carried out the first treatments in south-east Asia using a new, faster form of radiotherapy that extends more advanced care to more patients. A 74-year- old patient with localized prostate cancer became the region's first patient to receive treatment using RapidArc radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems .

Clinicians at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH) in Hong Kong said they were delighted with the first treatment, which took just two to three minutes to deliver, much faster than conventional IMRT (intensity modulated radiotherapy) treatments. "IMRT treatments are time-consuming because tumors are targeted by a complex sequence of fixed radiation beams from multiple angles but the RapidArc treatment is dramatically faster," said Dr. T.K.Yau, consultant radiation oncologist.

"With this new technology, cancer patients in Hong Kong can receive a faster, more comfortable and more precise radiotherapy treatment," he added. "The RapidArc treatment can produce comparable or even better dose conformity compared with IMRT treatments but with shorter treatment times. It means that more of our patients can be treated with advanced IMRT-quality treatments."

Dr. Yau said the hospital now plans to expand the range of RapidArc treatments to include other pelvic tumors and head & neck cancers. PYNEH is one of six public cancer centers in Hong Kong.

RapidArc, which delivers a precise and efficient treatment in a single or multiple arcs of the treatment machine around the patient, was introduced early last year by Varian, the world leader in radiation therapy equipment and software. Since its launch, more than 70 hospitals worldwide have commenced clinical treatments and PYNEH is the first in the South-East Asia region, just as it was the first to introduce image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) to Hong Kong in 2006.

Doctors at PYNEH treat patients using three Varian linear accelerators including a Clinac® 23Ex accelerator equipped with RapidArc radiotherapy technology, as acquired in 2008 thanks to a private donation. Dr. Yau says his department plans to equip a second accelerator with RapidArc in the coming months.

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's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 5,100 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 60 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com/.

SOURCE: Varian Medical Systems

Web site: http://www.varian.com/