Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, today announced that the first CyberKnife VSI System to be installed in Europe was placed at the Leon-Berard Cancer Multidisciplinary Center (CLB) in Lyon, France. The CyberKnife VSI System is the newest addition to the CyberKnife product family.
One of France's leading cancer treatment facilities, the Leon-Berard Cancer Center, is a non-profit hospital dedicated to cancer treatment and research located in the Rhone-Alpes, the second largest region in France . The addition of the CyberKnife System to the already well-equipped Radiation Oncology department, – which features five treatment accelerators, one dedicated scanner and one brachytherapy suite, – will expand the range of therapeutic options available to the center's 2,000 yearly cancer patients.
"We feel strongly that the CyberKnife VSI System will help us deliver not only more typical radiation therapy, but also allow us to treat cancer patients that would otherwise have no other options," said Christian Carrie, M.D., head of the Radiation Oncology department at CLB. "Although the CyberKnife VSI System has the capacity to deliver conventional fractionation, the main reason we chose this system is for its superior accuracy and efficiency in the treatment of moving targets, in particularly liver and prostate."
With the CyberKnife VSI System, clinicians at Leon-Berard will now be able to broaden delivery of high precision radiation therapy and radiosurgery for extracranial indications. This new expertise will increase the range of radiation treatments available at the Leon-Berard Cancer Center, which already include respiratory gating radiation therapy, extracranial stereotactic radiation therapy, interstitial brachytherapy, intensity modulated conformal radiotherapy (IMRT), and total body irradiation (TBI).
"We are very proud to work with such a prestigious and highly scientific cancer center and announce that patients will soon have access to CyberKnife VSI treatments," said Guillaume Tetard, Senior Director of Sales, Accuray EIMEA (Europe India Middle East and Africa). "Given the increase in cancer diagnosis in France, now more than ever it is crucial that patients have access to the latest technologies in oncology care. We are confident that as acceptance of the CyberKnife System grows, it will improve cancer care throughout Europe by bringing more therapeutic options to doctors and patients."
The CyberKnife System uses real-time tracking and correction capabilities to deliver high-dose radiation to tumors with pin-point accuracy, including tumors that move with respiration or unpredictably due to other normal bodily functions. As a non-invasive treatment for cancerous and non-cancerous lesions, the CyberKnife System does not rely on sub-optimal techniques such as gating to account for movement, nor does the system require the use of stabilizing head and body frames that are extremely uncomfortable for patients. The target tracking technologies of the CyberKnife System make it an easy and comfortable experience for the patient, while providing industry leading radiation delivery accuracy. Treatments are usually completed in one to five sessions with each session typically lasting between 20-45 minutes. In most cases, patients can resume their normal activities immediately following treatment.
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