Image Guided Radiation Therapy in Latham, NY. Now Fighting Cancer Using Fast and Precise RapidArc(TM) Radiotherapy ...( Patient calls...),Health

Patient calls it a 'miracle'

LATHAM, N.Y., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Clinicians from the Image Guided Radiation Therapy program at Community Care Physicians in Latham have commenced treating cancer patients using RapidArc(TM) radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), an advancement that delivers a highly-precise image-guided, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment in two minutes or less.

RapidArc treatments spare healthy tissue and other vital organs in the body by adapting to the shape and size of a patient's tumor. These treatments can be completed more quickly than conventional image guide IMRT because they are delivered with a single continuous rotation of the radiotherapy machine around the patient rather than treating the tumor from fixed positions.

Donald Shorkey, 71, an early-stage prostate cancer patient, was the first person to receive RapidArc treatments through this program. "I was immensely relieved when the doctors and nurses explained to me and my wife that RapidArc treatments focus just on the tumor."

"Earlier technology for radiotherapy limited the number of angles we could use for striking at a tumor," said Arun Puranik, MD, director of the Image Guided Radiation Therapy program. "With RapidArc technology, we are seeing excellent treatment plans that permit us to target the tumor from nearly every angle in a 360-degree circle around the patient. The impressive thing is that, when we use RapidArc to target the tumor from more angles, we can deliver a treatment using less radiation. And it only takes two minutes."

The Image Guided Radiation Therapy program at Community Care Physicians was one of the earliest adopters of IGRT tec
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