More than 1,500 oncology professionals hear of pioneering radiosurgery treatments and knowledge-based planning techniques at two Varian-hosted symposia

VIENNA /PRNewswire/ - Cancer experts have reported advances in radiosurgery treatments for the prostate, liver and spine, as well as significant developments in radiation oncology treatment planning using equipment and software from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR). Speakers at two Varian-hosted symposia at the 33rd ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology) meeting in Vienna detailed experiences of stereotactic radiosurgery treatments using Varian's Edge™ and TrueBeam™ STx platforms for radiosurgery. Varian's RapidPlan™ knowledge-based treatment planning software was also presented at the meeting.

At the 'Cutting Edge' symposium, doctors from the first three hospitals to commence treatments with Varian's Edge Radiosurgery platform -- Champalimaud Center for the Unknown in Lisbon, Humanitas Cancer Center in Milan, and the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, U.S. - described positive experiences with their pioneering treatments.
Professor Carlo Greco of Champalimaud Center for the Unknown in Lisbon described his use of the Edge Radiosurgery platform to deliver a wide range of SABR treatments. As an example, Dr. Greco reported using this platform together with real-time tumor tracking system using implanted transponders to complete lung and prostate treatments in a single session. He also said his team has so far treated more than 50 prostate cancer cases in just five treatment sessions using Calypso® transponders to track motion.

"Taking account of motion has always been a real challenge for radiation oncology but we now have the tools to meet this challenge," said Dr. Greco. "We are able to mitigate the effects of motion now in ways that would have seemed unthinkable even a few years ago, and with greater motion management we are able to consider delivering stereotactic treatments in a single session, making dose delivery faster and potentially more effective."

Dr. Marta Scorsetti, head of radiosurgery and radiotherapy at Humanitas Cancer Center in Milan, outlined her technique for treating liver cancer and liver metastases using stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR), suggesting it can be an effective non-invasive alternative to surgery for such cancers. Doctors at Humanitas have now used SABR to treat 25 liver cancer patients and 61 liver metastases patients over the last two years, according to Dr. Scorsetti.

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