RICHLAND, WA--(Marketwire - May 29, 2012) - IsoRay Inc. (NYSE Amex: ISR), a medical technology company and innovator in seed brachytherapy and medical radioisotope applications, today announced that Discovery Channel has featured the Company’s Cesium-131 brachytherapy (internal radiation therapy) treatment for localized prostate cancer.
Discovery Channel Chief Medical Expert John Whyte, MD, MPH, spoke with UPMC urologist Dr. Ronald Benoit about the advantages of using Cesium-131 over traditional isotopes. Dr. Benoit explained that UPMC has been using Cesium-131 over a six year period. UPMC’s study found that its patients benefited from the minimally invasive treatment that resulted in reduced urinary problems. Typically, urinary problems last up to 18 months after treatment with other brachytherapy options. When using Cesium-131, Dr. Benoit explained, urinary symptoms were gone in 3 to 6 months. View the Discovery Channel story here.
One in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetimes. It is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among American men, claiming some 30,000 lives annually. About 1 man in 36 will die of prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, which reports that about 241,740 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in 2012. Only lung cancer claims the lives of more men each year.
IsoRay is the exclusive manufacturer of Cesium-131. The ground-breaking brachytherapy treatment represents one of the most important advancements in internal radiation therapy in 20 years. Cesium-131 allows for the internal radiation treatment of many different cancers because of its incomparable combination of high energy (its unique tissue penetrating capability reaching just far enough to treat the cancer) and its 9.7 day half-life (its unrivaled speed in giving off therapeutic radiation). The treatment can be deployed using several delivery methods including single seed applicators, implantable strands and mesh, and several new implantable devices.
IsoRay Chairman and CEO Dwight Babcock commented, “Cesium-131’s success in treating low and intermediate risk prostate cancer is just the beginning. IsoRay has built the foundation for the use of Cesium-131 in the successful treatment of cancers throughout the body. We expect more physicians and institutions in the medical community to adopt the use of Cesium-131 for the treatment of multiple cancers as they become aware of its dramatic impact on survivability and quality of life benefits for their patients.”
In addition to its CMS codes, Cesium-131 is FDA-cleared in seed form for the treatment of prostate cancer, lung cancer, ocular melanoma cancer, brain cancer, colorectal cancer, gynecologic cancer, head and neck cancer and other cancers throughout the body.
About IsoRay, Inc.
IsoRay, Inc., through its subsidiary, IsoRay Medical, Inc., is the exclusive producer of Cesium-131 internal radiation therapy, which is expanding brachytherapy options throughout the body and the GliaSite® radiation therapy system, the world’s only balloon catheter device used in the treatment of brain cancer. Learn more about this innovative Richland, Washington company and explore the many benefits and uses of Cesium-131 and the GliaSite® radiation therapy system by visiting www.isoray.com. Join us on Facebook/Isoray. Follow us on Twitter @Isoray.
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this news release about IsoRay’s future expectations, including: the advantages of Cesium-131 seed, whether outcomes, including lessened side effects, from this study will be experienced by other users of our products, whether IsoRay will be able to continue to expand its base beyond prostate cancer, whether IsoRay’s Cesium-131 seed and other delivery methods for Cesium-131 will be used to successfully treat additional cancers and malignant disease, whether additional physicians and institutions will adopt the use of Cesium-131 to treat other cancers will be successful, and all other statements in this release, other than historical facts, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA”). This statement is included for the express purpose of availing IsoRay, Inc. of the protections of the safe harbor provisions of the PSLRA. It is important to note that actual results and ultimate corporate actions could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements based on such factors as physician acceptance, training and use of our products, our ability to successfully manufacture, market and sell our products, our ability to manufacture our products in sufficient quantities to meet demand within required delivery time periods while meeting our quality control standards, our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights, whether additional studies are released and support the conclusions of early clinical studies, whether this and other studies with Cesium-131 result in favorable patient outcomes, patient results achieved when Cesium-131 is used for the treatment of cancers and malignant diseases beyond prostate cancer, successful completion of future research and development activities, and other risks detailed from time to time in IsoRay’s reports filed with the SEC.
Contact:
Sharon Schultz
(301) 351-0109
schultzpr@mchsi.com
