From the October 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


In support of clinical evidence
According to Huntzinger, lung SBRT is the best-known example of how efficacious the treatment can be. Although there are published reports on such findings, no clinical trails in the U.S. have yet compared SBRT to other treatment methods for lung cancer patients. But that’s about to change.

This summer, Varian announced its corporate support for a phase III study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute that will compare SBRT with surgery for the treatment of early-stage, high-risk, operable non-small cell lung cancer.
“It’ll be a definitive study of what techniques will be used and when,” says Huntzinger. The study will take place over the next eight years.

Clinical evidence for prostate cancer is also surfacing. According to Elekta, another major manufacturer of radiation therapy systems and solutions, researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reported in August that high-risk prostate cancer patients treated with Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) had better cancer control outcomes than patients treated with non-IGRT techniques.


Accuray is also investing in clinical studies to generate information about available radiation therapy treatments. In the spring, the company launched an international, multi-center, randomized study to compare CyberKnife SBRT, da Vinci assisted and manual laparoscopic surgery and conventionally fractionated IMRT for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. “It’s one of the biggest undertakings in prostate cancer maybe ever,” says Dawood. “It’s seeking at the highest level to change the fundamental way prostate cancer is treated for organ-confined, early state prostate cancer, which is the majority of prostate cancer.”

Accuray’s CyberKnife is also being studied in early stage operable lung cancer. That study was launched in 2007 and is being overseen by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The case for proton therapy
Proton therapy has also established itself as an alternative radiation treatment option for men with prostate cancer, because protons can directly target the cancer while avoiding critical body structures nearby. During treatment, protons are fired at energies up to 250 MeV to blast cancers. Besides prostate cancer, proton therapy can also treat other tumors in the brain, lungs, head and neck.

October 2012 Magazine

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