Leading U.K. Cancer Centre Begins Clinical Treatments with New, Revolutionary Beam-shaping Solution from Elekta

MIDDLESBROUGH, England, May 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Patients at The James Cook University Hospital's (Middlesbrough, U.K.) new radiotherapy centre are now receiving advanced therapy on a treatment system equipped with Elekta's Agility™* 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator (MLC). The hospital's achievement follows the world's first clinical start of Agility at St. James's University Hospital (Leeds, U.K.), in April, and sets the stage for patient treatments to begin at additional European hospitals in the coming weeks.

"Agility enables us to give a high dose of radiotherapy to a smaller anatomical area, and its accuracy helps reduce side effects," says Fiona Milnes, radiotherapy services team leader at The James Cook University Hospital, which recently opened an expansion of its radiotherapy services. "Demand for cancer services is increasing all the time and this expansion gives our patients access to the very latest technology in a purpose-built unit that will really increase the profile of James Cook."

An MLC, a device made up of numerous, individual tungsten "leaves," is commonly used to shape beams of therapeutic radiation that are delivered from different angles around the patient. Using twice the number of leaves typical of many standard MLC's, Agility precisely sculpts delivered radiation to the unique contours of the tumor, while reducing the risk of exposure to healthy tissue. The new Agility MLC also includes ultra-fast leaf movements with extraordinarily low radiation leakage to increase the potential for advanced radiotherapy techniques such as SRS, SRT, and VMAT.

Recently, Elekta announced that it had achieved CE Marking for Agility, enabling medical centres across Europe and other regions to adopt the technology for their patients with cancer.

More information about Agility is available at www.elekta.com/agility.

*Agility is CE Marked, but not licensed for sale in all markets.

For further information, please contact:
Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: [email protected]
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: [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 3,300 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. Website: www.elekta.com.

SOURCE Elekta