November 2, 2010 – An estimated 1.1 million patients in the United States were treated in 2009 with radiation therapy, a 15 percent increase from 2007, according to a new study from IMV. The annual average increase is about seven percent.
Breast, prostate and lung cancer were the top three types of cancer treated with radiation, accounting for 24, 20 and 12 percent respectively.
“Digital imaging has become integrated into treatment planning, simulation and to guide tumor treatment real-time,” said Lorna Young, senior director, market research for IMV.
The 2010 Radiation Therapy Market Summary Report describes trends in the adoption of therapeutic techniques, equipment and radioactive agents. Highlights include:
• More than one-third of radiation therapy sites are planning to purchase external beam therapy units over the next three years.
• Of the treatment planning systems installed, more than half of the hardware or server technology has been upgraded, with the majority of the upgrades taking place in 2008 and 2009.
• 89 precent of radiation therapy sites have “record and verify” and/or oncology information systems installed. Two- thirds of the oncology information systems are interfaced with an EMR system, and 85 percent have digital images available on their system.
For more information: www.imvinfo.com
May 02, 2024 
