First Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Cancer Treatment

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Elekta Announces First Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Cancer Treatment at Royal Marsden Hospital

ATLANTA, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, January 28, The Royal Marsden Hospital (Sutton, Surrey, UK) successfully completed the first Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)* treatment in the world using a commercially produced product. To facilitate the treatment, the hospital used its existing Elekta Synergy® system and Elekta's next generation linear accelerator control system.

VMAT takes Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) to the next level by simultaneously controlling the position and speed of the linear accelerator gantry, the multileaf collimator and dose rate. The flexibility and variability of VMAT provides highly conformal dose distribution to each target, sparing surrounding healthy tissue more effectively than other treatment methods to reduce the possibility of negative side effects.

VMAT treatments also take significantly less time than other radiation therapy techniques, making the treatment more comfortable for the patient and further increasing the likelihood of precise dose delivery.

Jim Warrington, head of Radiotherapy Physics at The Royal Marsden Hospital, reports on the first VMAT patient, who was treated for lung cancer: "The patient received a single 340-degree arc of six megavoltage X-rays, with simultaneously variable dose-rate and dynamic multileaf collimator modulation. The treatment arc delivered a 2 Gray fraction to the target in 93 seconds, approximately half the time it would have taken normally."

VMAT solution will benefit thousands of radiotherapy patients

"Given the potential for non-coplanar deliveries," says Warrington, "VMAT will be a significantly improved treatment modality for The Royal Marsden Hospital's radiotherapy patients." The Royal Marsden Hospital treats about 4,000 new radiotherapy patients each year at its Sutton site, and 2,500 at its Chelsea site.

"The efficiency and flexibility of this technique is impressive," adds Warrington, "and we hope to be able to expand the use of this cutting-edge technology to become a routine treatment method in the future."

In addition to the new Desktop 7 software, Elekta's VMAT solution includes the MOSAIQ image-enabled oncology Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system and ERGO++, the first treatment planning system to use inverse planning techniques for rotational therapy. These innovations are now available as upgrade packages for all existing Elekta accelerators.

*Elekta Volumetric Intensity Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) is pending regulatory approvals in certain markets, including 510(k) clearance in the US, and is not yet available for commercial sale in the US.

About Elekta

Elekta is an international medical technology group, providing oncologists, radiation therapists, neurosurgeons and many other medical specialists with state-of-the-art tools to fight serious disease.

Elekta provides advanced clinical solutions and comprehensive management and information systems, as well as services for improved cancer care and management of brain disorders.

Elekta's systems and solutions are used in over 4,500 hospitals around the world. Clinical and information management solutions include, among others, Leksell Gamma Knife® for non-invasive treatment of brain disorders, Elekta Axesse and Elekta Synergy® for stereotactic and image guided radiation therapy and radiosurgery, as well as the MOSAIQ suite of software for image-enabled EMR and efficient management of clinical and patient data.

With more than 2,000 employees globally, Elekta corporate headquarters are located in Stockholm, Sweden and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb.

Website: http://www.elekta.com/