North Shore Radiation Therapy Treating Cancer Using Rapid Arc(TM) Radiotherapy Technology, a Fast, Precise Cancer Treatment

Radiation Therapy Technology from Varian Medical Systems has potential to improve cancer care while reducing the cost of treatment

Huntington, New York -- October 08, 2008 -- North Shore Radiation Therapy in Huntington, New York has started treating cancer patients with Rapid Arc™ radiotherapy technology, a fast, precise form of treatment using advanced technology from Varian Medical Systems. The new Rapid Arc™ treatment is two to eight times faster than conventional forms of radiotherapy. This precision can make a significant difference in the patient’s outcome. This IMRT treatment, which takes about 90 seconds, is delivered significantly faster than other regional facilities where treatment time can last 20 minutes or longer. Reducing this time means treatment can be delivered before the patient becomes uncomfortable and potentially moves. “Rapid Arc makes it possible for us deliver highly-precise intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatments quickly,” said Richard Byrnes M.D., Medical Director. “These treatments target tumors accurately while sparing the surrounding healthy tissues. Because they’re fast, Rapid Arc treatments are also easier on the patient. It’s hard for people to hold still for long periods of time. By delivering doses more quickly, we can simultaneously improve the quality of care and make our patients more comfortable.” North Shore Radiation Therapy’s Rapid Arc radiotherapy treatment is delivered with just a single rotation of the treatment machine around the patient. During that rotation, the treatment beam is continually shaped and reshaped according to the size, contour and position of the tumor within the body. The beam shaping is accomplished using a beam-shaping device called a multi-leaf collimator (MLC). This device has 120 computer-controlled mechanical “leaves” or “fingers” that move to create apertures of different shapes and sizes. During a Rapid Arc treatment, specialized software algorithms vary three parameters simultaneously: the speed of rotation around the patient, the shape of the MLC aperture, and the dose delivery rate. “We’re very pleased to be able to offer patients this exciting new treatment option,” says Jeffrey Musmacher, Chief Operating Officer. “Varian's Rapid Arc technology is enabling us to target some types of cancer very accurately while sparing healthy tissue.”

Since 1988, North Shore Radiation Therapy has provided premier radiation therapy services to Suffolk County. The center offers 3-D Conformal Radiation Therapy, IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), IGRT (Image Guided Radiation Therapy), SRS (Stereotactic Radiosurgery), Rapid Arc, Partial Breast, skin and Gynecological Brachytherapy. North Shore Radiation Therapy is the most experienced in all modalities of prostate cancer radiation therapy including seeds and IMRT in Suffolk County. The center is staffed by board certified physicians, and highly trained clinicians with expertise in utilizing the most advanced radiation therapy technology. Located at in Huntington, and Smithtown, New York, the center is open Monday through Friday, and accepts all insurance plans. Appointments can be made by calling (631) 427-2273. You can visit the website at www.cancer-radiation.com.

Contact: Jeffrey S. Musmacher
Chief Operating Officer
(631) 427-2273
jmusmacher@cancer-radiation.com

North Shore Radiation Therapy Offers Prostate Cancer Patients The Latest Tool For Precise Treatment

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. - (Business Wire) Technology to deliver high dose radiotherapy for cancer treatment has constantly been improving and physicians in continue to be faced with the difficulty of treating a moving target. Sophisticated techniques such as intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) have been developed to produce highly conformal beams to minimize dose to healthy tissues. However, without accounting for organ motion, the benefits of these technologies cannot be realized. Radiation Oncologists at North Shore Radiation Therapy in New York are able to account for this motion.

The introduction of image guided radiation therapy, or IGRT, has revolutionized the delivery of modern day radiotherapy for prostate cancer. IGRT combines imaging with treatment delivery to provide up to real-time of the patient's organs in the treatment position, at the time of treatment, optimizing accuracy and precision. Organs including, but not limited to the lung, prostate and bladder tend to move as much as centimeters during the course of treatment and image guidance allows the physician to target and track tumors with pinpoint precision.
There are several techniques used to achieve image guided radiation therapy for prostate cancer. For some tumors, gold markers can be placed in the tumor. The patient is imaged daily prior to each radiation treatment. This is called on board imaging, or OBI. Patients who prefer not to have markers placed can be treated with other image guided techniques such as cone beam CT scan or ultrasound. In cone beam CT, the imager is rotated around the patient to quickly acquire a high-quality, low dose 3-D image of the tumor and surrounding anatomy. These 3-D images are compared to reference images from the treatment plan. Through 3-D image matching, which can be accomplished manually or automatically, shifts are calculated and the patient is moved into position for treatment. This technique is particularly useful for treatment sites that are far away from bony landmarks.

With the third technique, an ultrasound is performed daily prior to each treatment. The images are compared with reference images and the patient is shifted accordingly.
“Image guided radiation therapy allows physicians to treat with pinpoint accuracy diseases including brain tumors, prostate cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer and spine tumors, as well as many others” stated Dr. Heather Zinkin, a board certified Radiation Oncologist at North Shore Radiation Therapy.

Their facilities house state of the art technology and patients can be treated using on board imaging, cone beam CT and ultrasound for high precision therapy.

About North Shore Radiation Therapy
Since 1988, North Shore Radiation Therapy has provided premier radiation therapy services to Suffolk County. The center offers 3-D Conformal Radiation Therapy, IMRT, IGRT, SRS (Stereotactic Radiosurgery), RapidArc, Prostate Brachytherapy, Mammosite and Gynecological Brachytherapy. North Shore Radiation Therapy is the most experienced in prostate cancer treatment in Suffolk County. The center is staffed by board certified physicians, and highly trained clinicians with expertise in utilizing the most advanced radiation therapy technology. Located at in Huntington, and Smithtown, New York, the center is open Monday through Friday, and accepts all insurance plans. Appointments can be made by calling (631) 427-2273. You can visit the website at www.cancer-radiation.com.

North Shore Radiation Therapy
Jeffrey S. Musmacher
631-427-2273
jmusmacher@cancer-radiation.com
http://www.cancer-radiation.com

Mammosite Breast Brachytherapy

Last year, North Shore Radiation Therapy continued it's groundbreaking treatments for breast cancer. In 2007, more women underwent targeted partial breast radiation therapy, called MammoSite, at North Shore Radiation Therapy, than anywhere else in the region.

MammoSite was approved by the FDA in 2002. Since then, more than 35,000 women have been treated with this remarkable procedure which is the most widely utilized and accepted method of accelerated partial breast irradiation. MammoSite therapy delivers radiation internally, directly to the site of the tumor, where the likelihood of recurrence is greatest.

North Shore Radiation Therapy is proud to play a role in "success stories" for women who have battled breast cancer. Many of the community's surgeons from Suffolk County and surrounding areas have participated in TCC's MammoSite program, contributing to this great achievement. This New Year, the physicians and staff of North Shore Radiation Therapy look forward to spreading the word on this innovative treatment and helping more and more women get back to their normal lives.

This is how MammoSite 5-Day Targeted Radiation Therapy simplifies breast cancer treatment…

1. Placement

After the breast cancer tumor is removed (lumpectomy), a small, soft MammoSite balloon attached to a thin tube (catheter) is placed inside the lumpectomy cavity through a small incision in the breast.

• The balloon is “inflated” with saline solution so that it fits snugly into the cavity. It remains inflated during the 5-day treatment.
• A small portion of the catheter remains outside the breast; this is secured to a cushioned gauze pad to prevent movement of the catheter.

2. Treatment

• Treatment is planned by a radiation oncologist who will take images of the MammoSite balloon catheter in the breast and determine the amount of radiation needed.
• During therapy, the portion of the catheter that remains outside your breast is connected to a computer-controlled High Dose Rate (HDR) machine that inserts a radiation “seed” to deliver the therapy.
• Once therapy is complete, the seed is removed, the catheter is unplugged, and you will be free to return to your normal daily activities.
• No radiation remains inside your breast in between treatments.

3. Removal

• After 5 days of treatment, your MammoSite balloon catheter will be removed, usually on the last day of treatment.
• The balloon is gently removed through the same incision made to place it.

For more information, call North Shore Radiation Therapy at

(631) 864-5600 or visit their website at www.licancer.com

New Prostate Cancer Treatment

A groundbreaking new development provides image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) two to eight times faster and more precisely than is possible with traditional IMRT or helical tomotherapy. This is a winning combination that enables physicians to improve the standard of care and treat more patients.

Plan studies comparing fixed-beam and helical IMRT with RapidArc show that RapidArc can reduce the amount of non-therapeutic radiation reaching healthy tissues during treatment. For example, in the case of head and neck cancer treatments, RapidArc plans are better at protecting critical structures such as the spinal cord, brain stem, eyes, optic nerve and chiasm, parotid (salivary) glands, and brain. Moreover, with Rapid Arc’s highly efficient use of the primary beam, secondary stray radiation caused by scatter and leakage are reduced by over 50% on average compared with fixed field IMRT.

Other tests showed that even complex RapidArc treatment plans can be delivered in less than two minutes, with fewer than 750 MUs. In comparison, Varian’s best IMRT treatments, delivered one field at a time, require approximately one minute per field to deliver, while the average multislice helical IMRT treatment requires 10 to 15 minutes.

Studies by Cedric Yu, DSc, professor of radiation oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center into single-arc IMRT has shown it to be equal to or better than multiple-field IMRT in terms of target volume coverage and normal tissue sparing. He found that a single arc can deliver essentially similar dose distributions compared with IMRT plans that incorporate as many as 36 fields.

THIS NEW INNOVATIVE TREATMENT IS ONLY ONE OF THE MANY OFFERINGS TO BE AVAILABLE AT THE NEW NORTH SHORE RADIATION THERAPY ON LONG ISLAND IN NEW YORK, OPENING MARCH 2008.

See the link on the right for more information