SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, today announced that the Robotic Radiosurgery Course held on April 11 and 12 in Boston, Massachusetts yielded record attendance with nearly double the attendees over last year's meeting.
At this year's Robotic Radiosurgery Course, more than 175 health professionals from 13 different countries gathered to hear presentations of the latest scientific and clinical experiences from CyberKnife users around the world. Attendees included physicians, physicists, nurses, therapists, and hospital administrators; all interested in learning the clinical applications of robotic radiosurgery and the specifics of establishing a successful CyberKnife center.
"We were thrilled to see a doubling in attendance at this year's Robotic Radiosurgery Course, particularly the vast specialties and countries that were represented," said Wade Hampton, senior vice president and chief sales officer of Accuray. "Strong interest from attendees around the world has helped to increase the size of our CyberKnife sales pipeline and the amount of business we are working to close."
Oral presentations focused on both intracranial and extracranial treatment experiences, with additional sessions covering coding and reimbursement, payor relations and a tour of the CyberKnife facility at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Continuing medical education (CME) credits were offered to attendees.
Abstract highlights included Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY's experience treating 230 prostate cancer patients with CyberKnife radiosurgery demonstrating excellent prostate specific antigen (PSA) response, with only 1 biochemical failure to date in a patient with high risk disease, and few reports of acute toxicity at a mean of 6 months follow-up.
Additionally, experience from Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Md., highlighted the outcomes of 45 patients with pancreatic cancer whose prior surgery or prior radiation was unsuccessful or who were inoperable and who subsequently were treated with CyberKnife radiosurgery. The median overall survival time from diagnosis was 18.4 months with a local control rate of 91 percent for these patients. These results constitute very promising outcomes, given the often poor prognosis for pancreatic cancer.
About the CyberKnife(R) Robotic Radiosurgery System
The CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System is the world's only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body non-invasively. Using continual image guidance technology and computer controlled robotic mobility, the CyberKnife System automatically tracks, detects and corrects for tumor and patient movement in real-time throughout the treatment. This enables the CyberKnife System to deliver high-dose radiation with pinpoint precision, which minimizes damage to surrounding healthy tissue and eliminates the need for invasive head or body stabilization frames.
About Accuray
Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is a global leader in the field of radiosurgery dedicated to providing an improved quality of life and a non-surgical treatment option for those diagnosed with cancer. Accuray develops and markets the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, which extends the benefits of radiosurgery to include extracranial tumors, including those in the spine, lung, prostate, liver and pancreas. To date, the CyberKnife System has been used to treat more than 40,000 patients worldwide and currently more than 130 systems have been installed in leading hospitals in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.accuray.com.
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SOURCE Accuray Incorporated
