AMSTERDAM, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Researchers from VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam have reported that RapidArc(R) radiotherapy from Varian Medical Systems has clinical advantages over earlier fixed-beam approaches to stereotactic treatments of lung tumors. Their findings, based on treatment of 85 medically inoperable lung cancer patients, were reported at the recent annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in Chicago and a condensed version has been published in the ‘Green Journal’ (Radiotherapy and Oncology) 93 (2009).
Clinicians at VU deliver stereotactic RapidArc treatments using the Novalis Tx(TM) radiosurgical platform from Varian and BrainLAB. The high dose delivery capability of Novalis Tx combined with the speed of RapidArc enables stereotactic treatments with beam-on time of as little as six and a half minutes, even for the highest doses, which previously took about 30 minutes to deliver.
RapidArc(R), Varian’s technology for delivering volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), enables clinicians to deliver a highly-precise image-guided intensity-modulated treatment quickly, often with as little as one or two revolutions of the treatment machine around the patient. This enables treatments that are up to eight times faster than alternative approaches.
(*)This research received grant support from Varian Medical Systems.
W.F.A.R. Verbakel, S. Senan, C. Ong, J.P. Cuijpers, B.J. Slotman, F.J. Lagerwaard Rapid Delivery of Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Peripheral Lung Tumors using Volumetric Intensity Modulated Arcs - Radiother Oncol. 2009 Oct;93(1): 122-4. Available here: http://www.thegreenjournal.com/article/PIIS0167814009002709/abstract The abstract from ASTRO is available here: http://www.redjournal.org/article/S0360-3016(09)01321-2/fulltext
Varian Medical Systems, Inc.
