Varian Medical’s Linear Accelerator Debuts in India

Varian Medical Systems’ upgraded Clinac medical linear accelerator was used for the first time in India at Yashoda Cancer Institute—a cancer center based in Hyderabad—for advanced lung, liver and brain radiotherapy treatments.

The accelerator from the Palo-Alto, Calif.-based company features “high intensity mode” dose delivery capability, allowing doctors to shorten treatment times and deliver stereotactic body radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery for tumors that are difficult to treat.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery require fewer treatment sessions for the delivery of the total dose, with a greater portion of the dose delivered each session. Thus, the conventional treatment times of five to six weeks can be reduced to just a few days. This benefits the patients by reducing the number of times they need to visit the hospital, in turn helping them get back to their normal routine quickly. 

By offering an alternative to surgery, Varian’s high intensity mode accelerator also plays an important role in the treatment of elderly lung cancer patients who are considered inoperable.

In addition to stereotactic treatments, the cancer center also uses Varian’s advanced accelerator in combination with the latter’s image-guided Rapidarc radiotherapy to treat tumors. With the Rapidarc technology, the machine moves in a circular motion around the patient. During the rotation, the beam is constantly shaped and reshaped to match the shape and size of the tumor, hence delivering quick and accurate treatment.

The adoption of Varian’s upgraded accelerator at Yashoda Cancer Institute is in line with the objective of a recent Oncology Summit organized by the company in Mumbai, India. The summit addressed a wide range of topics in the sphere of radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatment. The convention focused on major advances in radiation oncology technology, emerging technologies to treat different types of cancer, expanding cancer care access in India and other countries, regulatory issues in radiotherapy practice and new medical options for cancer patients.

Last month, Varian inked a $20 million deal with Prime Healthcare Services—one of the largest privately owned hospital networks in the United States—to be its exclusive technology supplier for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery. The seven-year agreement with Varian aims at enhancing and extending radiotherapy and radiosurgery cancer treatment capabilities at Prime Healthcare.

In April this year, Varian also cut a similar deal with UnityPoint Health to exclusively supply software and devices for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery. Going forward, the provider of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy, reportedly has more of such multi-year deals in the pipeline that will offer integrated, accountable and coordinated care.