New Elekta Consortium to Push Frontiers of Linear Accelerator-Based Stereotactic Radiation Therapy for the Brain

ATLANTA, August 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

The Elekta Linac-based Brain Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (SRT) Consortium convened in Boston on July 9th for its inaugural meeting. Elekta created the Consortium in an effort to more fully exploit the potential of advances in linear accelerator technologies as they are applied to brain diseases.

"As an established provider of sophisticated cancer management systems worldwide, Elekta has a responsibility to assume a leadership role - in collaboration with its clinical partners - to explore and refine the use of our linac-based technologies to advance the care of patients treated with stereotactic radiation therapy for brain tumors," says Joel Goldwein, Elekta's Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs. "Since the development of Leksell Gamma Knife®, Elekta has become the world leader in brain radiosurgery. We can harness this expertise to advance the evolution of our linear accelerators for cranial application."

Among the Consortium's first priorities are to establish a large linac-based SRT database, execution of large-scale research - including studies of practice patterns, contouring methods and treatment planning strategies - and publication of large retrospective studies that evaluate parameters such as dose/fractionation, histology and local control and survival.

The meeting focused on delineation of tumors, discussions of surgical margins and diagnostic planning techniques.

The founding institutional members of the Consortium are Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Toronto), the University of Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa) and University Medical Center (Mannheim, Germany).

"This is an exciting international collaborative consortium of linear accelerator SRS programs, in major academic centers, who not only do single fraction SRS but hypofractionated SRS," says Arjun Sahgal, MD, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Surgery, University of Toronto Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. "We have the ability to report on our outcomes and toxicities with both approaches and for intact tumors, surgical cavities and benign tumors. Our aim is to gain a better understanding of which groups of patients are better suited for single versus hypofractionated SRS, as there is no doubt that hypofractionated SRS is indicated for selected patients. Practice guidelines are in need for this emerging technique, and this consortium can help the community at large practice safely and offer treatments that may not have been previously thought possible."

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 health care 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 3,800 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. Website: http://www.elekta.com.

For further information, please contact:
Gert van Santen, Group Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +31-653-561-242, e-mail: [email protected]
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Raven Canzeri, Global Public Relations Manager, Elekta
Tel: +1-770-670-2524, e-mail: [email protected]
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

SOURCE Elekta