Doctors in Latvia have begun treatments using the region's first Novalis Tx(TM) radiosurgery platform from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) and BrainLAB. Two prostate cancer patients have been treated using Varian's RapidArc® radiotherapy technology at the Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital.
The Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform together with RapidArc technology enabled the clinicians to treat prostates with image-guided, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in about half the time typically needed for conventional IMRT. "Our new radiosurgical instrument enabled us to spare surrounding healthy organs while precisely targeting the tumor with a high dose," said Dr. Sergey Popov, head of the hospital's radiotherapy department.
Dr. Popov said the Novalis Tx radiosurgery platform is the Baltic region's first machine for frameless intra-cranial stereotactic radiosurgery of brain lesions and he announced that cranial treatments would begin this month. Latvia's minister of health Prof. Baiba Rozentale is celebrating the arrival of the machine and the new treatment capability at a public ceremony today.