According to the American Cancer Society, more than one million people are diagnosed with cancer each year. In the United States, about 1 out of every 2 men and 1 out of every 3 women will have some type of cancer at some point during their lifetime. The sooner a cancer is detected and treatment begins, the better the patient’s chances for survival.
The GE Healthcare business unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) will spotlight potential connections across the cancer care continuum at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) meeting in Chicago, Ill., Nov. 1-5, 2009. “Oncology care is about making connections,” said Paul Anderson, General Manager of Oncology for GE Healthcare. “It’s about making the connection between the disease, the treatment, the patients and the multi-disciplinary clinical team.”
Need for Sophisticated Imaging
Advances in radiotherapy treatments have required parallel advancements in imaging, providing oncology specialists with imaging technology that moves from basic qualitative information to deliver high-level quantitative patient data. These refinements have allowed oncologists to better target the therapies by connecting all components that are key to personalized patient cancer treatment. The multi-modality oncology suite connects care from pathways to simulate therapy delivery, to gauging the response to actual treatment, to monitoring its efficacy.
GE’s booth at ASTRO will spotlight the connections between disease and treatment, as well as between clinician and patient. At the same time, broader clinical connections that link patient information, department workflow and oncology management will be demonstrated. Products whose spotlighted advances in cancer diagnostics and care include: