Institute Gustave-Roussy begins treating patients with advanced
brachytherapy
12 Nov 2010
The Institute Gustave-Roussy (IGR) in Paris is offering cancer
patients advanced brachytherapy after installing Varian Medical System's
GammaMed PDR (pulsed dose rate) afterloaders and a full suite of
planning software
These replace five aging low dose rate brachytherapy devices.
"These new devices and software enable us to increase our
optimized 3D-based brachytherapy procedures, especially in
gynaecological tumours, as well as enabling us to replace low dose
rate with pulsed dose rate treatments," said Dr Haie-Meder. "For
patients, this means we can potentially increase the quality of the
treatments."
Brachytherapy involves treating cancer by temporarily placing
radioactive sources within or adjacent to the tumour. Pulsed dose
rate brachytherapy involves short pulses of radiation, typically
once an hour, twenty-four hours per day, to simulate the overall
rate and effectiveness of low dose rate treatments. Typical tumour
sites treated by PDR brachytherapy are gynaecological, head and
neck, anal canal and penile cancers, as well as paediatric tumours
such as rhabdomyosarcoma.
One of the key factors in IGR’s decision to acquire GammaMed
afterloaders was the efficacy of Varian’s brachytherapy software,
including BrachyVision treatment planning software.
“The software appears to be very easy-to-use and reliable and is
ideal for MRI-based brachytherapy imaging,” said Dr Haie-Meder. “We
have a very modern approach to brachytherapy treatments with regular
use of CT or MRI 3D-based dosimetry and optimization, and the Varian
software will aid us in this approach.”
“We are honoured that clinicians at IGR, one of the world’s leading
brachytherapy centres, have confidence that Varian devices and
software enable them to meet their high treatment standards,” said
Hosea Mitchell, VP of Varian.