Proton therapy suppliers are an exclusive club with only a handful of operational facilities in the U.S. and few OEMs contributing to the space.

Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, California offers expertise in both hardware and software for this advanced cancer treatment modality. Varian is known for its treatment planning systems, patient information management systems, and for its installed base of 5,000 linear accelerators used in photon (X-ray) therapy. As proton therapy makes its way onto the healthcare landscape, Varian is developing supporting software systems and has made a strategic acquisition of a proton particle accelerator company.

DOTmed conducted a recent online interview with Lester Boeh, Vice President of Emerging Technologies at Varian Medical Systems:

DOTmed (DM): What challenges have proton therapy developers faced in the last year or so?

Lester Boeh (LB): The development of the economic situation over the last several months has caused a number of institutions to reassess their project plans and review if the economic assumptions are still valid, both in terms of reimbursement and financing. Financing has become more of a challenge, both in terms of availability and financing rates.

DM: Tell us of the latest trends in this treatment approach.

LB: There seems to be a higher level of acceptance that pencil beam scanning is the preferred treatment delivery method.

More generally speaking, the increase in the number of prospective patients highlights the need for an integrated solution and clinical efficiency. This fits in very well with Varian's business strategy for proton therapy. As the only cancer treatment vendor in proton therapy offering a comprehensive product suite for integration from planning through treatment, we think we're well positioned to provide the oncology community with a high level of service.

DM: How are your offerings focused exactly?

LB: We've made a great deal of progress on productizing Varian's proton therapy system. We completed work on our manufacturing facility, produced the first systems, and acquired the CE Mark for a system in Europe. Our Eclipse™ treatment planning and ARIA® oncology information systems comprise a comprehensive integrated solution from a single vendor--something that many customers feel is important when sourcing technology that is this sophisticated and complex. The productization of our proton therapy treatment delivery platform includes full integration of Eclipse and ARIA, to leverage the knowledge that so many of our customers already have in using these systems. This will facilitate shorter learning curves and enhance ease of use and optimal clinical efficiency in the proton therapy environment. It will also help to support the needs of the clinical community in meeting the challenges of an evolving reimbursement environment as well as staff shortages.

Clinics will have to simultaneously address the challenges of increased treatment complexity, declining reimbursement, and the need to find, train, and retrain staff. To meet these needs, Varian is developing proton therapy systems that offer a completely integrated clinical process, optimized workflow to reduce treatment times, automated tools for advanced treatment delivery and an integrated, intuitive user interface to minimize learning curves and optimize utility. Eclipse and ARIA are strong products in their own right, having been continually optimized for managing all types of cancer care. They are also already installed and operating alongside technology from a variety of different vendors at several proton therapy facilities around the world, including M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

DM: Give us a snapshot of your current investments related to proton therapy.

LB: Varian is making ongoing investments in the effort to produce a leading edge proton therapy system. As the proton vendor with the most experience developing and producing technology for cancer treatment, we are following our well established roadmap and processes for product development and introduction.

DM: What is the latest with Accel? It was acquired by your company fairly recently, then sold in part in 2009.

LB: Varian Medical Systems sold only the Research Instruments part of Accel;
this is something we had planned from the time of the acquisition in January 2007. Our primary interest was in the proton therapy portion of Accel, which we retain. (The Research Instruments part is a provider of research components and instruments primarily to national research labs.)

The cyclotron installed by Accel at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland has been operating clinically for about two years. We're encouraged by the data on availability showing that the cyclotron has been running in excess of 98 percent uptime.

DM: What's on the horizon?

There are more articles being published and broadcast both in the clinical community and the mass media, which raise awareness of the advantages and the challenges of proton therapy. Generally speaking, the interest level in proton therapy is as high as ever. It's evident that clinical efficiency and integration are becoming even more important.

Read our exclusive update on proton therapy in the May 2009 issue of DOTmed Business News, now online in a page-turning format.