MANCHESTER, England, July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —
– Experts Welcome Latest Advance as Promising
Development for UK Patients
A treatment system called the Novalis® Tx™
has gone into service today, which has the ability to destroy
cancerous cells virtually anywhere in the body in a single,
20-minute session, without the need for a single cut of the
scalpel.
The Novalis Tx, installed in The Christie at Salford Royal, a
brand new radiotherapy centre in the North West, treats cancer
using a specialised technique called radiosurgery which is
especially beneficial for tumours of the brain and spine previously
thought untreatable by surgeons.
Using powerful, highly accurate beams of radiation shaped to fit
the precise shape of even the most complex tumours, the system is
able to treat painlessly without the need for
invasive[1] surgery and with fewer side effects. The
short treatment times of the system benefit both doctor and
patient; and mean more patients can be treated on the system in one
day. Patients are often able to attend clinic just as an
outpatient, returning to life the same day. Frameless radiosurgery
provides a patient-friendly alternative to techniques that require
immobilisation with an invasive head ring that is affixed to the
skull[1].
Rachel Good, Christie radiotherapy manager for the new centre,
says: “The Novalis Tx[TM]
was the perfect choice for the centre because it will help
The Christie treat more patients by switching between specialised
radiosurgery for tumours in the brain to standard radiotherapy for
other cancers of the body. In our first year we are looking to
treat 720 patients with the Novalis Tx, 120 of which will be
priority brain tumour patients where precise, non-invasive
treatment is particularly effective.”
News will be welcomed by the 300
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