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RapidArc radiotherapy technology from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), making it possible  to deliver advanced intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatments, two to eight times faster.

When he was switched to RapidArc radiotherapy, the actual treatment time once he was in position, went down to about 80 seconds, Bodine says. "The machine would rotate around my body without stopping at all. It was so quick, it took more time for me to get undressed and go into the room than it did for the actual treatments."

"RapidArc technology enables us to deliver highly-precise IMRT treatment much faster than was previously possible with earlier technology," says Steven J. DiBiase, MD, chief of radiation oncology services at the Center and clinical associate professor, Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine."RapidArc treatments deliver the dose during one continuous arc around the patient. It also uses fewer monitor units--that's a measure of the amount of radiation being emitted to complete a treatment. That means there is less low-dose spillage being scattered to other parts of the body."

Faster treatments confer another potential benefit for the treatment of prostate cancer. "Speed has the potential to increase accuracy," says Dr. DiBiase. The American Cancer Society's most recent estimates show that, in 2008 there were 192,280 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States, with over 6,000 of those occurring in the state of New Jersey.

Source: Varian Medical Systems

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