Varian Medical Systems Equipment Selected for Wave 8 of UK Cancer Plan | Varian

{ "pageType": "news-article", "title": "Varian Medical Systems Equipment Selected for Wave 8 of UK Cancer Plan", "articleDate": "26 May 2005", "introText": "", "category": "Oncology" }

Varian Medical Systems Equipment Selected for Wave 8 of UK Cancer Plan

LONDON, May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) has been selected as the leading supplier of new linear accelerators in the latest wave of the British government's capital investment program for upgrading the quality of cancer treatments in the nation's hospitals.

Varian, the world leader in radiotherapy solutions, is being awarded orders for six out of nine new linear accelerators ordered by the UK government. The Varian Clinac® accelerators -- machines that deliver radiotherapy -- will be installed at leading radiotherapy centers in London and Bristol in Wave 8 of the Cancer Plan. Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust in London will receive four new high-energy accelerators while Bristol Oncology Center is purchasing two Varian low-energy machines.

Over the last two years, the UK government's Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) has announced major investments in radiotherapy equipment in a series of waves. A total of 91 new linear accelerators have been acquired as part of the Cancer Plan and Varian has been selected to provide 61 of them -- nearly 70% of all machines ordered.

"After a detailed investigation, the trust evaluation team selected Varian equipment because they believe this package offers the best all round solution for our patients," says Bob Phillips, radiotherapy chief of service at Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust. "The new equipment will be replacing four linear accelerators at the Trust, two on each of the hospital sites. Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust will become a fully integrated all Varian site."

Once the new machines are installed next year, the department plans to begin developing treatments using intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), a new treatment that enables clinicians to increase doses delivered to the tumor while protecting surrounding healthy tissues. The new treatment machines will be equipped to provide state-of-the-art care with 120-leaf multileaf collimators -- digital devices that shape the beam of radiation to conform to the contours of the tumor. They will also have the latest in portal imaging technology for helping to ensure that treatments are delivered accurately.

David Scott, Varian's UK sales manager, says, "The Capital Investment Program under the UK government's Cancer Plan, aimed at improving the provision of radiotherapy services in England, has been a great success with Varian being awarded the lion's share of the business. This shows that the UK radiotherapy community recognises Varian's reliability and long term development strategy as well as our ability to deliver practical leading edge technology such as IMRT in today's high pressure clinical environment.

"The practical approach adopted by Varian has been to provide hospitals with access to leading edge technology whilst still supplying the increased treatment capacity necessary to ease the workload on the clinical staff and to reduce radiotherapy treatment waiting times for patients," Scott added. "Varian has worked with the UK government cancer team to ensure that at a minimum every centre purchasing Varian Clinac accelerators through the program will have the ability to deliver high-resolution IMRT and acquire high-quality digital portal images to verify that treatments are proceeding as expected. In addition seven hospitals including Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology and UCLH Middlesex Hospital have chosen to purchase Varian's new On Board Imagerâ„¢ device for image-guided adaptive radiotherapy."

High-resolution image available on request

Editorial contact: Neil Madle, Varian Medical Systems, +44 7786 526068, neil.madle@varian.com, or Spencer Sias, 1-650-424-5782, spencer.sias@varian.com

About Varian Medical Systems

Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California is the world's leading supplier of equipment and software for treating cancer. The company is also a premier supplier of components including X-ray tubes and flat-panel detectors for medical, scientific, and industrial imaging. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 3,280 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 55 sales and support offices around the world. The company operates manufacturing and engineering centres in Crawley (England), Helsinki (Finland) and Baden (Switzerland) and has headquarters for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) based in Zug, Switzerland. Additional information is available on the company's web site at www.varian.com

SOURCE: Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

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