Slovenia Hospital to Utilize Multimodality Radiotherapy/Radiosurgery Technology

A new radiotherapy and radiosurgery platform will give Slovenian cancer patients in the country's only radiotherapy department access to advanced radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatments.

Physicians at the Oncology Institute of Ljubljana (Slovenia) intend to begin RapidArc treatments on the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform for patients with head and neck and prostate cancers. The RapidArc technology was developed by Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA, USA) and the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform was developed by BrainLAB (Munich, Germany). "The excellent dose distribution, high precision, and extremely fast treatment delivery of the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform with RapidArc offers a major step forward for both clinicians and patients,” said Dr. Bozidar Casar, lead medical physicist. "To be able to deliver this using a multimodality platform which integrates all modern radiotherapy and radiosurgery technologies will be very beneficial for our patients.”

With the new Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform, the clinic can complete complicated radiosurgery by delivering more powerful doses to brain tumors or small metastatic lesions throughout the body in just one to five sessions. "We're able to use the radiation beam rather than a scalpel to remove disease without making a single incision,” said Dr. Casar. "It's faster and much easier on patients.”

The Oncology Institute of Ljubljana treats over 4,000 new cancer patients--or 5,100 individual treatment courses--each year using six-megavoltage treatment units, some of them unable to deliver advanced radiotherapy technologies such as image-guided radiotherapy and intensity modulated radiotherapy. The hospital also treats several hundred new cancer cases each year with brachytherapy. The lack of radiotherapy capacity in Slovenia, a country of just under two million inhabitants, has led to long waiting lists.

"Even though we work in two shifts using the six-megavoltage treatment machines, our capacity is clearly insufficient to meet the current standard of 50% of cancer patients that should receive radiotherapy during the course of their disease,” said Prof. Primoz Strojan, head of the radiotherapy department. "All patients with cancer that need radiotherapy have to come to our hospital. With Novalis Tx and RapidArc technology we are gaining a powerful weapon in our fight against cancer which should have, among many other benefits, a positive influence on bringing down waiting lists.”

The Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform features very high dose delivery rates, which contributes to shorter treatment times. It also offers dynamic fine beam shaping and noninvasive, precise patient positioning for rapid and more comfortable treatments. Specialized X-ray imaging systems are used to pinpoint the target and position the patient with millimeter accuracy, compensating for any motion that occurs during a treatment.

Dr. Casar reported that the clinic would be ready to deliver the full range of treatments when the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform with RapidArc capability is commissioned in mid-2010.

Varian Medical Systems is a world-leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers, and medical oncology practices.

BrainLAB develops, manufactures, and markets software-driven medical technology that enables procedures that are more precise, less invasive, and less expensive than traditional treatments. Among the core products are image-guided systems that provide highly accurate real-time information used for navigation during surgical procedures. This utility has been further expanded to serve as a computer terminal for physicians to more effectively access and interpret diagnostic scans, and other digital medical information for better informed decisions.

Related Links:
Varian Medical Systems
BrainLAB