Cancer Treatment

Saturday, March 1, 2003

Cutting-Edge Therapy Zeros In On CancerTreatment (NAPSA)—There may be good newsfor patients undergoing radiation therapy and the hospitals that treat them. That’s because a well-known manufacturer of med- ical technology has developed a new approach to Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). Rather than have a single large radiation beam pass through the body, IMRT allows very precise external beams of radiotherapy treatments to target the diseased area of the body with a numberof small radiation beams. This results in a higher dosage to the target tumor and a lower dose to the surrounding healthy tissues. IMRT has been shownto pro- vide greater benefits to patients by improving recovery time and reducing side effects and complications associated with conventional radiation therapy treatments. Radiotherapy side effects that were commonly accepted with conventional treatments are reduced with IMRT. This can lead to an improvement in a patient’s quality of life. However, given the rapid rate at which technology advances, some hospitals have been reluctant to invest in the technology, fearing that today’s investment will be outdated tomorrow. Fortunately, the Oncology Care Systems Division of Siemens Med- ical Solutions has come up with a wayfor health care facilities to protect their investment by introducing an approach to IMRT thatis scal- With IMRT, many small beams of radiation allow physicians to sculpt the dose precisely around the tumor for a more targeted treatment. able and modular. This makes it possible—and economical—for a hospital to upgrade their existing treatment system as needed for IMRTdelivery. In addition, they offer a worldwide customer care network so institutions can get the equipment up and running and have access to application and product information. These kinds of innovations in medical technology are nothing new for Siemens. The company worked closely with Roentgen in 1895, closely following his discovery of X-rays, to develop thefirst X-ray tubes. To learn more about this and other products, visit the Web site at www.seimensmedical.com.

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