May 26, 2009 – Dover, N.H. – Surgeons told Donald Bickford, 71, that due to the weakened condition of his lungs, ordinary surgery was not an option for removing his lung tumor. To treat the tumor, Arul Mahadevan, MD, radiation oncologist at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital here, prescribed a type of non-invasive radiosurgery using the Novalis Tx™ platform from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) and BrainLAB.
Novalis Tx delivers powerful, precisely sculpted doses of radiation using a combination of image-guidance and robotically-controlled beam-shaping tools. In Bickford’s case, the treatments were designed to narrowly target his tumor while avoiding, as much as possible, the delicate healthy lung tissues around it. To further ensure treatment accuracy, Wentworth Douglass clinicians used the platform’s optical and X-ray image-guidance technology to adjust for any tumor movement due to Bickford’s breathing during treatment.
“I’m a long time smoker, and over time, my breathing capacity has been severely weakened,” said Bickford, a retired assembler of printing presses. “Thoracic surgeons told me that because of the poor condition of my lungs, I couldn’t handle any kind of surgical procedure. Thankfully for me, there was another treatment option.”
Clinicians completed Bickford’s full course of SBRT treatments in five days without the need for anesthesia or overnight hospital stays. On each of these days, Bickford was in and out of the hospital in a little more than an hour. Treatments were quick and painless. “I wasn’t really nervous. In fact, I didn’t feel a thing during the treatments,” said Bickford. “I’ve been feeling fine ever since.”
“The Novalis Tx platform made it possible for us to treat Donald’s lung tumor,” said Dr. Mahadevan. “It incorporates all the tools for both the imaging and dose delivery steps, which makes the process very smooth for us and for our patients. It enabled us to verify the position of the tumor prior to each treatment and deliver the dose in a way that aims to avoid other tissues already weakened by the patient’s chronic pulmonary disease. Novalis Tx is an exceptional machine for treating tumors and malignancies in highly sensitive areas of the body.”
The American Cancer Society estimated that in 2008, doctors diagnosed 215,020 new cases of lung cancer in the US, with over 1,040 occurring in New Hampshire, and 1,330 occurring in Maine.
