German clinic's new Elekta Versa HD system boosts radiotherapy speed and precision in first patient treatments

USA - English

• USA - Deutsch

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany, Dec. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 28, clinicians at Evangelische Kliniken Gelsenkirchen (Gelsenkirchen, Germany) launched a new era of radiation therapy speed and accuracy with their first Versa HD™ case, a 72-year-old female patient with advanced (metastatic) cancer. Because the patient had received her first few fractions on the clinic's existing linear accelerator, Evangelische Kliniken doctors were able to verify that her Versa HD treatments were faster and more accurate, and provided more protection to surrounding healthy organs.

"This was a seven-field, 56-segment IMRT treatment, and what we found was that – in comparison with our other system – Elekta's Versa HD afforded better dose conformance to the target and enhanced avoidance of critical structures, such as the small bowel, kidneys, rectum and bladder," says Razvan Galalae, MD, PhD, Chief Physician at Evangelische Kliniken.

In the ensuing three weeks, Evangelische Kliniken put 15 additional patients on the Versa HD schedule, reinforcing the impact that the system has had on radiotherapy speed and accuracy.

While Dr. Galalae attributes these initial observations to Agility™, the Elekta system's advanced, high-speed beam-shaping multileaf collimator (MLC), Agility is just one major feature of Versa HD. Evangelische Kliniken clinicians are anticipating even greater gains in beam delivery speed with the system's High Dose Rate mode.

"By the middle of December, we will begin to perform VMAT with Versa HD, then add High Dose Rate mode," he says. "At that point, we will be able to treat a wide variety of indications – including head-and-neck tumors and prostate cancer – with both high conformality as well as significant increases in delivery speed. Eventually, we will add stereotactic techniques with implanted seeds for lung and prostate cancer."

As the clinic enters its second month with Versa HD, Dr. Galalae predicts that patient volume will rise to 30 to 35 patients per day by the end of December.

"That's our intermediate goal," he says. "Ultimately, we will reach about 50 patients per day. We think Versa HD is a really wonderful linac, and we're happy we made this decision over the other systems we evaluated. Our expectations have been met with our Versa HD system, which is among the first installed in Germany."

Versa HD is not for sale or distribution in all markets.

For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson, Director, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, e-mail: [email protected]  
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, e-mail: [email protected]
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,500 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker STO: EKTAB. Website: www.elekta.com.

SOURCE Elekta