| Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ Setting New Standards for Fast, Effective, Precise Radiosurgery Treatments Atlanta, GA, USA, June 13, 2007 One year after the first Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ treatment was performed in Marseille, France, the revolutionary radiosurgery system is
exceeding expectations and delivering fast, effective, precise radiosurgery treatments and to
date, has treated more than 300 patients. Physicians now have an unprecedented ability to
develop and deliver complex treatment plans for patients with metastatic brain tumors. In June, Washington Hospital Healthcare System , Fremont, CA, became the first U.S. site to
treat patients with Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion. “We treated three patients the first day,
and our clinical team was astounded by the ease and speed of the treatments, as well as the
ability to conform the dose to the target at a sub-millimeter level,” said David Larson, M.D.,
Ph.D., F.A.C.R., radiation oncologist and co-director of the Gamma Knife program at
Washington Hospital. The patients we treated had very complex targets or multiple brain metastases, but the
treatments only took one to two hours each,” said Larson. “In the past, equally conformal
treatments would have required well over five hours, even with the most recent Gamma Knife
model, which until now, was the fastest and most efficient radiosurgery device available.” Gamma Knife surgery has become the world’s most widely used radiosurgery treatment for
brain disorders due to its extraordinary accuracy, reduction of excess radiation dose to the
body and extensive history and clinical documentation. Unlike other systems designed to treat
the whole body, Leksell Gamma Knife is specifically designed to optimize treatment to the
head – a fact appreciated by neurosurgeons and patients alike. Developed in conjunction with leading neurosurgeons, Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion is: - Precise – thousands of radiation beams converge with a level of accuracy more than 0.5mm, about the thickness of a strand of hair, leaving nearby healthy tissue undamaged.
- Proven – With almost 500,000 patients treated worldwide, and thousands of peer-reviewed scientific articles, the system has unmatched clinical experience.
- Safe – Unwanted radiation dose to the body is up to 100 times less than that of competing technologies.
Gamma Knife surgery is the only stereotactic radiosurgery system specifically cleared by the
FDA for treating metastatic brain tumors. In comparison to linac radiosurgery, peer-reviewed
articles and publications prove the tremendous benefit of Gamma Knife surgery for
significantly better local tumor control.(1) (1) Single dose radiosurgical treatment of recurrent previously irradiated primary brain tumors
and brain metastases: final report of RTOG protocol 90-05 Journal: Int J Radiat Oncol Biol
Phys , Vol: 47, No. 2: pages 291-8. , May 1, 2000 Authors: Shaw E; Scott C; Souhami L;
Dinapoli R; Kline R; Loeffler J; Farnan N
About Elekta
Elekta is an international medical technology group, providing over 4,000 hospitals
worldwide with clinical solutions and comprehensive information systems for improved
cancer care and management of brain disorders. Elekta’s flagship products include Leksell
Gamma Knife® for intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery and the image guided Elekta
Axesse™ system for extrancranial stereotactic radiosurgery for spine and body. All of
Elekta’s solutions employ non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques and are therefore
clinically effective, gentle on the patient and cost-effective. Elekta is listed on The Nordic
Exchange under the ticker EKTAb and the company head office is located in Stockholm,
Sweden.
Related Links:
www.Elekta.com
www.BrainTumorTreatment.org
www.irsa.org
For further information, please contact:
Media inquiries:
Michelle Lee, PR and Advertising Manager
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, e-mail: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Investor Inquiries:
Peter Ejemyr
Group VP Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 733 611 000, e-mail: peter.ejemyr@elekta.com
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