Varian Medical Systems and BrainLAB to Showcase Novalis Tx™ Platform for Non-Invasive Image-Guided Radiosurgery | Varian

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Varian Medical Systems and BrainLAB to Showcase Novalis Tx™ Platform for Non-Invasive Image-Guided Radiosurgery

Powerful Technology for the Non-Invasive Treatment of Cancer on Display at the 45th Annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Meeting in San Francisco January 25-27, 2009

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new non-invasive surgical device for eradicating inoperable lung cancer and other conditions is being showcased this week at the 45th Annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Meeting in San Francisco. The Novalis Tx™ platform from Varian Medical Systems and BrainLAB enables doctors to perform image-guided radiosurgery on tumors of the lung, as well as of the brain, spine, liver, and prostate, without making a single incision.

Novalis Tx performs stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), a form of non-invasive radiosurgery that uses precisely-shaped and targeted radiation beams to treat tumors and non-malignant growths from outside the body.

"Novalis Tx is a versatile device for performing fast, noninvasive, image-guided radiosurgery," says Naren Ramakrishna, MD, PhD, with Dana Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center in Boston.

Early studies comparing SBRT with conventional radiotherapy - the treatment that is most often prescribed for patients with inoperable lung tumors - suggest that SBRT can result in a better survival rate. Only 10-30 percent of inoperable lung cancer patients who receive conventional radiotherapy survive for five years. While five-year data is not yet available for SBRT, the survival rate at three years has ranged from 54 to 91 percent. These results have encouraged the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), a multi-institutional, international organization that coordinates clinical research in radiation oncology, to sponsor a phase II trial of stereotactic body radiosurgery for the treatment of early-stage lung cancer--both operable and inoperable.

"Preliminary studies suggest that stereotactic body radiation offers us a good chance of achieving 85 to 90 percent local tumor control rates in the treatment of early-stage lung cancer," says Martin Fuss, MD, director of the image-guided radiation therapy program at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Dr. Fuss began using Novalis Tx to perform radiosurgery on patients with lung and other forms of cancer last October.

About the Novalis Tx Platform

The Novalis Tx platform combines the most advanced technologies available from Varian Medical Systems, the world's foremost provider of medical devices and software for treating cancer, and BrainLAB, a leader in software-driven medical technologies for precise and non-invasive surgical procedures. It incorporates a powerful linear accelerator, which rotates around the patient to target surgical beams at tumors from virtually any angle. A set of sophisticated image guidance and motion management tools provide clinicians with detailed information about the shape, size, and position of the targeted lesion, guide patient set up and positioning, and monitor motion during treatment.

For surgery on moving tumors in or near the lungs, the Novalis Tx includes devices for fine beam shaping and synchronizing treatment with the patient's breathing patterns.

"Using Novalis Tx, clinics can treat twice the number of patients per day than with any other stereotactic radiosurgery system on the market," says Dow Wilson, president of Varian's Oncology Systems business. "The speed and versatility of this technology make Novalis Tx the most cost-effective solution for offering advanced radiosurgical treatments to lung cancer patients and others who can benefit."

For more information on Novalis Tx, please visit http://www.varian.com/us/oncology/radiosurgery/. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Meeting will take place through January 27 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

ABOUT BRAINLAB

BrainLAB develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology that enables procedures that are more precise, less invasive, and also less expensive than traditional treatments. Among the core products are image-guided systems that provide highly accurate real-time information used for navigation during surgical procedures. This utility has been further expanded to serve as a computer terminal for physicians to more effectively access and interpret diagnostic scans and other digital medical information for better informed decisions. BrainLAB solutions allow expansion from a single system to operating suites to digitally integrated hospitals covering all subspecialties from neurosurgery, orthopedics, ENT, CMF to spine & trauma and oncology. With 3,000 systems installed in over 70 countries, BrainLAB is a market leader in image-guided technology. The privately held BrainLAB group, founded in 1989, is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and today employs 1,000 people in 16 offices across Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America. For more information, visit BrainLAB at http://www.brainlab.com/ .

ABOUT VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC.

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 4,900 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/.

    FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:

    Meryl Ginsberg, (650) 424-6444
    meryl.ginsberg@varian.com

SOURCE: Varian Medical Systems

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