Clinicians from the U.S., Europe, and Asia report promising results during medical meeting in Taiwan

TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan /PRNewswire/ -- Clinical experts outlined promising new approaches to treating liver cancer using radiosurgery with advanced imaging and motion management technology. Presentations on non-invasive radiosurgical approaches to treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were made by leading clinicians here last week at a meeting organized by the Taiwan Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and Taiwan Liver Cancer Association.

HCC, the most common type of liver cancer, is globally the third leading cause of cancer mortality after lung and stomach cancer, and a significant problem in Taiwan, mainland China, and other parts of Asia.1

"Most patients with HCC are not eligible for surgery or liver transplant," said Theodore Lawrence, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Michigan. "Historically we couldn't do much for them with radiotherapy because we lacked the ability to focus the dose on the tumor and minimize exposure of the rest of the liver. That has changed with advanced approaches like stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR)."

Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is a type of radiosurgery that involves the careful use of modern technologies for 3-D image guidance, motion management, and beam shaping. Dr. Lawrence and his clinical team customize their use of SABR for each patient according to a predictive model they have developed based on treatment data from over 400 HCC cases. This model helps them determine the optimal radiation dose to use given the volume of liver to be treated. "High doses can be given safely if enough normal liver can be spared," he explained.

Single-Dose Image-Guided Treatments
Carlo Greco, MD, professor and director of clinical research at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal, discussed advances in imaging and biological targeting that enable high precision single-dose image-guided radiotherapy (SD-IGRT) for treating metastatic lesions in the liver as well as elsewhere in the body. "These treatments depend on our ability to accurately position patients for treatment, use imaging for precise targeting, and manage motion during treatment," said Dr. Greco.

The TrueBeam™ platform from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), with its high dose delivery rate, enables fast completion of these otherwise time-consuming treatments. "Since we installed the TrueBeam machine in early 2012, we have treated over 400 metastatic lesions with high dose SD-IGRT," Dr. Greco said. "Lung, bone, liver, adrenal gland and lymph node lesions have been the focus of our experience. Based on follow-up imaging studies, we're seeing outstanding early local control rates, with 95% of lesions free of relapse at twelve months following treatment."

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