SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ: ARAY) announced today that two new studies demonstrate the benefits of the TomoTherapy® System in the treatment of advanced rectal cancer. Radiotherapy, with or without chemotherapy, followed by surgery is the standard of care in the treatment of locally, advanced rectal cancer. However, radiation delivered to surrounding organs, such as the bowel and bladder, may lead to life-changing side effects, making it critically important for the radiation to be delivered with extreme accuracy and precision. The TomoTherapy platform, including the next-generation Radixact® System, is the only system available that is capable of helical radiation delivery — continuously delivering image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IG-IMRT) from a full 360 degrees around the patient as the treatment table also moves — providing greater control of the radiation dose so it conforms precisely to the tumor and minimizes dose to healthy tissue.

Patients enrolled in the two studies received simultaneous daily radiation and a targeted radiation boost over a 25-day time period. The study investigators found that the TomoTherapy platform's unique architecture enabled the delivery of a high dose of radiation, directly to the tumor, through the integrated boost of radiation, while minimizing radiation to organs in close proximity to the targeted tumor. As a result, patients in the studies experienced improved treatment results and reduced side effects. These study outcomes compare favorably to conventional radiotherapy, based on results from other studies.

Study Highlights

Novel treatment approach shows promising results
The clinical teams at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland and the Clinica Luganese in Lugano, Switzerland, reported on their retrospective analysis of patients with advanced rectal cancer treated with TomoHelical™. The study titled, "Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy delivered with helical tomotherapy under daily image guidance for rectal cancer patients: efficacy and safety in a large, multi-institutional series," was published in the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, and found:

Treatment with TomoHelical is safe, with low rates of severe toxicity
Radiation delivered with helical TomoTherapy following daily imaging with the platform's integrated imaging capabilities allowed for the reduction of treatment margins around the tumor, so less normal tissue was irradiated. The authors highlight a "clear reduction in the rates of acute and late non-hematological toxicities" when compared to a randomized trial evaluating the use of 2D- or conformal 3D-RT techniques, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)[1]

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