January 25, 2012 — A 65-year-old breast cancer patient has become the first person in India to be treated using the fast and precise TrueBeam radiotherapy treatment system from Varian Medical Systems. In a treatment carried out at Health Care Global (HCG) Ahmedabad, the patient received accelerated partial breast irradiation that allowed her treatment course to be completed in a week instead of the usual five weeks required with previous Varian technology.
"The patient was saved from visiting hospital for five full weeks," says radiation oncologist Dr. Vivek Bansal. "As the TrueBeam treatment involved high dose rates delivered twice a day, the clinical team needed to be certain that the intended dose was delivered to the right area. A high degree of accuracy and good quality imaging helped ensure successful completion of the treatment."
Bansal said shorter treatment times, high quality imaging and greater throughput were all significant benefits for patients and the clinical team at HCG Ahmedabad. The center, which added radiotherapy to existing surgical and chemotherapy services a month ago, is the first private cancer hospital in Ahmedabad offering both diagnostic and treatment facilities for cancer under one roof. Its patients come from across Gujarat and neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, as well as from outside India.
Bansal and his team intend to use the TrueBeam device, which was installed in October, to deliver advanced radiotherapy techniques such as stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) treatments, as well as carrying out clinical studies and research programs.
Designed to advance the treatment of lung, breast, prostate, gynecologic, liver, head and neck, and other types of cancer, the TrueBeam platform for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery is a fully-integrated radiotherapy system designed from the ground up to treat a moving target, such as a tumor, with speed and precision. It features a High Intensity Mode—one of six dose levels available to doctors with the TrueBeam platform—for customizing dose delivery based on a patient's specific tumor characteristics.
High Intensity Mode has yet to receive clearance in India, but it is cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has CE marking and regulatory clearances in all other major markets.
For more information: www.varian.com
