Chinese hospital uses UNIQUE radiotherapy system to treat cancer patients

Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong, China, has become the first treatment center in Asia to commence treating cancer patients using the UNIQUE™ medical linear accelerator from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR).  Clinicians used the new device for the first time last week, to deliver an image-guided RapidArc® treatment for a patient battling hypopharyngeal cancer, a tumor in the lower part of the throat near the larynx.

The Department of Clinical Oncology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital presented its new UNIQUE radiotherapy system to guests, including senior colleagues from other regional oncology centers, at a special ceremony earlier this week.  

Kin Yin Cheung, Head of Medical Physics at Prince of Wales Hospital said his clinic chose the UNIQUE system mainly because it can deliver RapidArc radiotherapy, an arc-based approach to image-guided IMRT (intensity modulated radiotherapy), up to four times faster than is possible with conventional IMRT.  Studies* show that faster treatments allow for greater precision, since there is less time for patient or tumor movement during treatment.  With less time on the treatment couch, patient comfort is also enhanced.

"The UNIQUE system, with its capacity for fast RapidArc treatments, markedly enhances our treatment capacity," said Dr. Brian Yu, Head of Radiation Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital.  "It enables our center to provide timely precision radiotherapy to an increasing number of patients, helping to improve our throughput.  This arc-based treatment shortens the treatment delivery time to less than two minutes.  Our measurements show that UNIQUE can deliver high quality conventional IMRT and RapidArc treatments.  Prince of Wales Hospital will use RapidArc as a preferred modality for treating head and neck and prostate cancer."

UNIQUE is the world's first single-energy radiotherapy system with image-guidance and RapidArc® treatment capabilities. It was developed to bring advanced cancer care to more patients around the world. It incorporates Varian's proven technologies for reliable and consistent dose control, delivery, and beam shaping.  The system is designed to treat the world's most common cancers, including in the head and neck, breast, cervix and prostate tumors.

"With its speed and image guidance capabilities, UNIQUE enables cancer clinics to provide quality care to more patients at a lower cost per treatment," said Tom Duffy, Varian's vice president of sales and marketing for the Asia Pacific region. "We are pleased to support Prince of Wales Hospital in making this technology available to patients in this region."