PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- To monitor tumor movements and enhance the precision during image-guided radiotherapy treatments, Moinhos de Vento Hospital became the first cancer center in Brazil to begin using the Calypso® system from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR). Used with a Varian TrueBeam® medical linear accelerator to treat a prostate cancer patient on January 10th, the Calypso system detects even slight movements of a tumor so it can be targeted accurately with the treatment beam.
The Calypso beacon system works by implanting transponders approximately the size of a grain of rice into the tumor so that the tumor location can be tracked from outside the patient. The transponders emit non-ionizing electromagnetic signals that are tracked in real-time and used to keep a treatment beam on target.
“With Calypso, treatments are faster, with fewer side effects and it is possible to deliver a more concentrated dose of radiotherapy,” said Wilson de Almeida Junior, Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery Unit coordinator at the Center for Oncology.
According to Rafael da Luz Boeno, a specialist in the Urology Unit at Moinhos de Vento Hospital, “High-precision radiotherapy provides a great advance, especially in cases of prostate cancer. Several studies corroborate the efficiency of the Calypso System in accurately locating the tumor, and reducing the side effects of radiotherapy, such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.1 The implantation of the transponders is done with anesthesia, without pain and as an outpatient procedure.”
“Calypso is an evolution for more effective treatments, and with fewer after effects,” said Sérgio Roithmann, head of the Medical Service of the Center of Oncology. “Each time an important advance like this happens, we can combine treatments more safely and the patient can benefit from radiotherapy, chemotherapy, biological and surgery associations.”
About Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems focuses energy on saving lives and is the world’s leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating and managing cancer. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Varian employs approximately 6,400 people at sites around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com and follow @VarianMedSys on Twitter.
- Calypso® System: Assessing the Impact of Margin Reduction (AIM) Study, http://varian.com/sites/default/files/resource_attachments/Calypso_AIM_Study-RAD10259Oct12.pdf
Press Contact
Mark Plungy
Varian Medical Systems
+1 (650) 424-5630
mark.plungy@varian.com
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SOURCE Varian Medical Systems
