Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ: ARAY) announced today that Auckland Radiation Oncology (ARO) is the first center in New Zealand to treat patients with the CyberKnife® System, a robotic radiation therapy device known for delivering treatments with sub-millimeter precision and accuracy in typically 1 to 5 outpatient sessions.
The ARO medical care team selected the latest generation CyberKnife S7™ System to provide stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to patients more efficiently, minimizing the time they spend in daily treatments and maximizing the number of New Zealand cancer patients they can treat each day.
“These first-in-country patient treatments reinforce the value the CyberKnife System provides to medical care teams around the globe. The addition of the Auckland Radiation Oncology center to the network of facilities using the CyberKnife System will broaden access to a trusted radiation therapy treatment option,” said Suzanne Winter, president and CEO of Accuray. “We believe the system has the ability to significantly and positively impact the way the Auckland Radiation Oncology team treats cancer and certain neurological conditions, and will enable them to bring new hope to people who previously would have been without options.”
The CyberKnife S7 System combines speed, precision and motion synchronization technology for the treatment of lesions and tumors throughout the body. Treatment is non-surgical, non-invasive and does not require incisions or general anesthesia. Clinical studies support the use of the CyberKnife System, expanding medical care team options for achieving outstanding outcomes for a wide range of indications.
ARO Clinical Director Dr. Benji Benjamin said, “We believe the CyberKnife System is more accurate than traditional radiation therapy, with potentially thousands of smaller beams delivering radiation to the tumor with sub-millimeter precision, minimizing damage to surrounding healthy structures and organs. Introducing the system to our suite of tools is about giving New Zealanders access to one of the world’s most advanced treatment options and doing what we can to minimize the impact of an already challenging time in people’s lives.”
Dr. Ian Hanson, ARO’s Chief Physicist, added, “During treatment, the CyberKnife System will detect any movement of the patient or the tumor and will automatically move the robot to ensure that the cancer is always precisely targeted. This allows for higher doses of radiation to be delivered to the tumor each day, substantially shortening overall treatment times while minimizing the likelihood of unwanted side effects.
“For example, instead of up to 20 rounds of radiation over four weeks for prostate cancer, with the CyberKnife, patients will likely only need one week of highly targeted treatment. This could be game changing for New Zealand men.”
Click here to learn more about the CyberKnife S7 System at Auckland Radiation Oncology.