Physicians at BGS Global Cancer Institute at BGS Global Hospitals (Bangalore, India) have begun delivering cutting-edge radiotherapy treatments using the first clinical TrueBeam STx medical linear accelerator in Asia. “The whole procedure, the imaging and treatment, was completed within five minutes,” said Dr. Nirmala Srikantia, senior consultant and chief of radiation oncology services at BGS Global Cancer Institute. “TrueBeam STx gives our oncologists the flexibility to deliver multiple high-precision treatments such as this while minimizing the time required, and potentially, the inconvenience to the patient. The new system’s advantages of speed and precision will help benefit our patients in receiving timely treatments. Our specialists will be able to offer high quality treatments to more patients and deliver them more quickly than has been possible in the past.”

Engineered to advance the treatment of lung, breast, prostate, gyecologic, liver, head and neck, and other types of cancer, the TrueBeam platform, developed by Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, CA, USA), was designed to treat tumors with unprecedented speed and accuracy. It features many of technical innovations that dynamically synchronize imaging, patient positioning, motion management, and treatment delivery. With its high intensity mode, TrueBeam machines can provide very high doses rapidly and accurately, more than twice as fast as earlier generations of technology. The TrueBeam STx is a high-end model optimized for radiosurgical applications, where very large doses are delivered in a single treatment or only a few sessions.

Initial TrueBeam STx treatments at BGS Global Hospitals will focus on brain, head and neck, gastrointestinal and gynecologic cancers using innovative techniques such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). The team intends to begin stereotactic radiosurgery treatments by the end of January 2012. “Since the hospital was established, our specialists have routinely treated various types of cancers using medical oncology and surgery, but the TrueBeam STx means we can now offer advanced radiosurgery treatments in addition,” said Dr. K. Ravindranath, chairman and managing director of Global Hospitals Group.

Global Hospitals has acquired three TrueBeam STx systems--ordered in 2010--for its sites in Bangalore, Chennai, and Mumbai, because of the rapidly increasing cancer incidence in these major population centers, along with the strength of the neuroscience departments in those hospitals. “This will make some of the world’s most advanced treatment capabilities accessible for cancer patients in these major Indian cities,” added Dr. Ravindranath. “This country needs more radiotherapy equipment to help its cancer patients and we believe we can help relieve this situation by installing the most modern and advanced devices available.”

Rolf Staehelin, international head of marketing operations for Varian’s oncology systems group, said, “Varian is at the forefront in offering advanced systems for radiosurgical and neurosurgical treatments in India and we are delighted to be working closely with Global Hospitals Group as they introduce this ground-breaking technology for the benefit of cancer patients.”

India has a population of over a billion people and there are an estimated one million new cases of cancer diagnosed in the country each year.

The high-intensity mode has yet to receive clearance in India but it is cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has the CE marking, as well as regulatory clearances in all other major markets.

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