Portuguese Cancer Center Becomes World’s First to Offer Innovative Radiosurgery Application

Prostate, lung, and brain cancer patients in Portugal will now benefit from cutting-edge radiosurgery technology.

Physicians from the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown (Lisbon, Portugal) have performed the world’s first cancer treatments using the new advanced Edge radiosurgery system from Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, CA, USA). This fast, precise, and noninvasive alternative to traditional surgery was used to treat several patients with prostate, lung, and brain tumors.

The Edge radiosurgery system enables clinicians to attack tumors from outside the body using carefully shaped high-energy X-rays. There are no incisions and patients contend with few of the healing, pain, and recovery issues associated with conventional surgery. Targeting precision is enabled by Varian’s Calypso “GPS for the Body” system for tracking tumor position in real time. The system also can alert clinicians if a patient has moved in a way that could compromise treatment accuracy. A sophisticated treatment couch with six axes of motion enhances treatment precision by providing additional angles for targeting tumors.

“Edge radiosurgery should make a big difference in the precision of treatments, particularly with the advanced PerfectPitch couch system, which offers us the ability to make minute positional corrections efficiently,” stated Prof. Carlo Greco of the Champalimaud Foundation. “We are delighted to be the first center in the world to begin clinical treatments using Edge radiosurgery and it has been a superb job by the whole Varian and Champalimaud teams to make this happen.”

The first patient treated at Champalimaud using Edge Radiosurgery was a 63-year-old female with operable stage 1 non-small-cell lung cancer. Clinicians also treated a 67-year-old male with two metastatic tumors in his brain. He received radiosurgery for both tumors in a single session that took less than 10 minutes.

The center also used the Edge system to begin hypofractionated stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy for two prostate cancer patients, enabling them to complete the treatments in five sessions, rather than the 30-40 sessions that are typically required with standard radiotherapy. According to the clinicians at Champalimaud, early data indicate that hypofractionation holds great potential in achieving excellent tumor control for properly selected prostate cancer patients.

“We believe the Edge radiosurgery system offers more options for clinicians and will prove to be an effective tool for effectively performing cancer surgery with no knife,” said Rolf Staehelin, head of international marketing for Varian Medical Systems.

Other leading cancer centers worldwide, including the Henry Ford Clinic (Detroit, MI, USA) and the Humanitas Clinic (Milan, Italy) are scheduled to begin treatments using the Edge Radiosurgery system in the coming weeks.

Related Links:
Champalimaud Center for the Unknown 
Varian Medical Systems