Accuray Surpasses 2,000 Lung Cancer Patients Treated With

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CyberKnife®

http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/3690/

by Barbara Kram, Editor

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, today announced that its CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System has been used to treat more than 2,000 lung cancer patients worldwide. The company also reported that the first patient was treated using the recently introduced Xsight> > Lung Tracking System, a system that works with the CyberKnife System to precisely track and treat some lung tumors non-invasively.

The CyberKnife System reached the 2,000 patient milestone so rapidly because it is the only dedicated radiosurgery system capable of treating tumors anywhere in the body. By expanding radiosurgery beyond intracranial tumors, the CyberKnife System gives hope to more cancer patients, including patients who oppose surgery or who were previously considered inoperable. The addition of the Xsight Lung Tracking System now extends this treatment opportunity to an even larger patient population, such as older patients and those who may not be able to tolerate the invasive implantation of fiducials.

"In the three and a half years I have been treating primary and metastatic lung tumors with the CyberKnife System, the clinical results have been impressive, in fact, the results are so good that in some of the early cases , the CT scan obtained after the CyberKnife treatement were indistinguishable from those achieved with surgery," said John Kresl, M.D., Ph.D., St. Joseph's Hospital and Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Ariz. "The CyberKnife System gives patients who cannot or do not want to undergo surgery the best non-invasive, pain free treatment option with the least side effects or risk for reduced lung function."

"The CyberKnife System is unique in its ability to accurately treat lung tumors that move with respiration," said Mark Brenner, M.D., chief of the department of radiation oncology at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Md." When lung tumor procedures require the implantation of fiducials, almost one-third of patients experience pneumothorax. The CyberKnife System's Xsight Lung Tracking System enables us to reduce this risk and other painful complications inherent to these treatments."

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and will account for approximately 29 percent of all cancer deaths in 2007. In fact, each year almost twice as many women die from lung cancer than from breast cancer. The ACS projects that more than 213,000 new cases of lung cancer will be discovered this year, accounting for 15 percent of all cancer diagnoses.

"The CyberKnife System is the first and only radiosurgery treatment that can precisely target a number of lung tumors without invasive procedures, debilitating side effects or a long, painful recovery period," said Euan S. Thomson, Ph.D., president and CEO of Accuray." The fact that this innovative treatment has now been used to treat more than 2,000 lung cancer patients is a testament to the impact radiosurgery is having in the battle against cancer. With the CyberKnife System, cancer patients now have a non-surgical option, which gives them new hope for a quick and complication-free recovery."

"After a long, painful recovery from the surgery that removed my first lung tumor, I elected to have the second tumor removed non-invasively using the CyberKnife System," said Joan Schwab, who was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in both lungs." The CyberKnife treatment was very easy. I relaxed and slept during the treatment and was able to return to work immediately. I had no side effects and am grateful for the CyberKnife."

About the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System

The CyberKnife System represents the next generation of radiosurgery systems, combining continual image-guidance technology with a compact linear accelerator that has the flexibility to move in three dimensions according to the treatment plan. This combination, which is referred to as intelligent robotics, extends the benefits of radiosurgery to the treatment of tumors anywhere in the body. The CyberKnife System autonomously tracks, detects and corrects for tumor and patient movement in real-time throughout the procedure, enabling delivery of precise, high-dose radiation with sub-millimeter accuracy.

About Accuray

Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is a global leader in the field of radiosurgery. Its CyberKnife System is the world's first and only commercially available intelligent robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body with sub-millimeter accuracy. To date, it is estimated that the CyberKnife System has treated more than 20,000 patients worldwide. For more information, please visit www.accuray.com.