Cancer Patients Benefit From Speed, Accuracy of RapidArc Radiotherapy ... ( PALO ALTO Calif. Ju...)

Cancer Patients Benefit From Speed, Accuracy of RapidArc Radiotherapy Treatments

Date:7/16/2009

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Peter Campbell, 65, was struggling to find the words to communicate. When his wife asked what his name was and where he lived, he couldn't think of the answers. Following a CT scan of his brain, he learned that an aggressive type of brain tumor was hindering his speech and language functions. The tumor was removed surgically, and as is standard for treating this type of brain tumor, Campbell began a seven-week course of radiotherapy that is targeting the area where the lesion was removed, in order to kill any cancer cells that might have been left behind.

In his particular case, the daily treatments are taking two minutes to complete rather than the 20 minutes that would have been required using the previous generation of technology. Doctors at the Space Coast Cancer Center in Titusville, Florida are using RapidArc(TM) radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical System (NYSE: VAR). This fast and highly-accurate approach enables doctors to deliver image-guided radiotherapy that precisely conforms to a targeted area two to eight times faster than was previously possible.

"Before my brain tumor was discovered, I could tell that my communication skills were going down fast," said Campbell, a former educator who has held several public and private administrative positions. "I'm usually very good at crossword puzzles, but suddenly I couldn't think of a single word to answer the clues. At a party, I had to smile and nod my head because I couldn't understand what my friends were telling me. This was scary. Thankfully, my speech abilities returned to normal after surgery, and since then, the RapidArc treatments have been as simple as could be."

Campbell's radiotherapy began in May and will continue through July. Each weekday,
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