Elekta Announces First Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Cancer Treatment at Royal Marsde...( ATLANTA Feb. 11 /- On Monday Janu...)

ATLANTA, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, January 28, The Royal Marsden Hospital (Sutton, Surrey, UK) successfully completed the first Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)* treatment in the world using a commercially produced product. To facilitate the treatment, the hospital used its existing Elekta Synergy(R) system and Elekta's next generation linear accelerator control system.

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VMAT takes Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) to the next level by simultaneously controlling the position and speed of the linear accelerator gantry, the multileaf collimator and dose rate. The flexibility and variability of VMAT provides highly conformal dose distribution to each target, sparing surrounding healthy tissue more effectively than other treatment methods to reduce the possibility of negative side effects.

VMAT treatments also take significantly less time than other radiation therapy techniques, making the treatment more comfortable for the patient and further increasing the likelihood of precise dose delivery.

Jim Warrington, head of Radiotherapy Physics at The Royal Marsden Hospital, reports on the first VMAT patient, who was treated for lung cancer: "The patient received a single 340-degree arc of six megavoltage X-rays, with simultaneously variable dose-rate and dynamic multileaf collimator modulation. The treatment arc delivered a 2 Gray fraction to the target in 93 seconds, approximately half the time it would have taken normally."

VMAT solution will benefit thousands of radiotherapy patients

"Given the potential for non-coplanar deliveries," says Warrington, "VMAT will be a significantly improved treatment modality for The Royal Marsden Hospital's radiotherapy patients." The Royal Marsden Hospital treats about 4,000 new radiotherapy patients each year at its S
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