Elekta Press Releases

Elekta Nomination Committee’s proposals for the 2013 Annual General Meeting

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:30:00 GMT

Stockholm, May 21 – The Nomination Committee of Elekta AB (publ) proposes that the 2013 Annual General Meeting elects Laurent Leksell as the new Chairman of the Board. Akbar Seddigh, who has been Chairman of the Board since 1999 and a Board member since 1998, has declined re-election. Laurent Leksell, who is the company’s largest shareholder, has been a Board member since 1972 and was the company’s President and CEO from 1972 to 2005.

Puerto Rico’s Caribbean Imaging and Radiation Therapy Center Orders Elekta’s New Versa HD System for Treatment of Cancer Patients

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 GMT

PONCE

2013-05-17

Linear accelerator is island’s first Versa HD

Serving a region of 650,000 inhabitants in southern, central and western Puerto Rico, Caribbean Imaging and Radiation Therapy (CIRT, Ponce, PR) Center has improved its radiation therapy capabilities with the acquisition of an Elekta Versa HD™ system, the first in Puerto Rico. Versa HD offers clinicians the versatility to deliver conventional therapies to treat a wide range of tumors throughout the body, while also enabling treatment of highly complex cancers that require extreme targeting precision.

“There is no doubt in my mind that our patients will benefit with Versa HD,” says Santiago Sallaberry, M.D., Director of Radiotherapy at CIRT, a private clinic where Versa HD will join an existing Elekta Synergy® system. “Treatment times will be faster thanks to the system’s High Dose Rate mode and Agility™, and we’ll be able to more closely conform to the tumor shape with Agility advanced beam shaping.”

CIRT physicians anticipate the first patient to be treated with Versa HD in late July.

Stereotactic program on horizon

CIRT’s acquisition of Versa HD also will be the clinic’s inroad into high-dose, highly targeted stereotactic treatments, he adds.

“A stereotactic radiation therapy program will be a very important component of our service here,” Dr. Sallaberry says. “Particularly for elderly patients and those with head-and-neck cancers who need to wear a thermoplastic mask, the speed of the High Dose Rate mode and Agility could reduce treatment times by 40 to 60 percent. We think Versa HD also will improve stereotactic therapy for metastatic cancer, such as nodules in the anterolateral lung. The accuracy and potency of stereotaxy will improve the lives of these patients.”

The most common cases treated at CIRT, which treats 65 patients a day, are breast and prostate cancers.

For more information, visit www.VersaHD.com.

Versa HD is not for sale or distribution in all markets.

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For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson, Director, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.andersson@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,400 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. Website: www.elekta.com.

Conference call regarding Elekta’s 2012/13 Full Year Report

Fri, 10 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Stockholm, May 10, 2013 Elekta will publish its 2012/13 Full Year Report on June 5 as per: · The report will be published at 07.30 CET. · Elekta will host a telephone conference at 10:00-11:00 CET with Tomas Puusepp, President and CEO and Håkan Bergström, CFO.

Canada’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Joins Elekta and Philips Research Consortium on MRI-Guided Radiation Therapy

Fri, 10 May 2013 05:30:00 GMT

Research projects to have implications for cancer treatment worldwide

Number of outstanding shares in Elekta AB (publ)

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

New World-Class U.K. Radiosurgery Centre Marks Official Opening

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:00:07 GMT

LONDON

2013-04-26

Event at Queen Square Radiosurgery Centre draws some of world’s preeminent Gamma Knife radiosurgery practitioners

Neuroscience team at Queen Square Radiosurgery Centre provide the
Rt Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, with
an overview of Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion radiosurgery system.

Notable U.K. government and healthcare leaders, Gamma Knife® radiosurgery experts and representatives of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) gathered on April 23 to observe the official opening of The Gamma Knife Centre at Queen Square Radiosurgery Centre (QSRC) by the Rt Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons. The new center – which treated its first patients last fall using its Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ system from Elekta – is the United Kingdom’s sixth operational Gamma Knife center.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a gentler alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease, which is cancer that has travelled to the brain from elsewhere in the body. With pinpoint accuracy, the system delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session. Perfexion provides even greater speed and ease of use than previous models.

The Gamma Knife Centre provides a high quality radiosurgical service for National Health Service (NHS) and private patients, and is a partnership between the NHNN, part of the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Foundation Trust and Medical Equipment Solutions Limited.

The opening program featured several presentations by leading clinicians and Elekta officials who were welcomed by Sir Robert Naylor, Chief Executive, UCLH key government, NHNN, clinical and Elekta officials:

Mr. Neil Kitchen, NHNN neurosurgeon; Dr. Naomi Fersht, Consultant Clinical Oncology at University College Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery; Dr. Hans Rolf Jäger, Reader in Neuroradiology at UCL Institute of Neurology and Honorary Consultant Neuroradiologist at UCLH Trust; Ian Paddick, Chief Physicist, NHNN Gamma Knife Centre: Queen Square Gamma Knife Research Beginnings
Dr. Dan Leksell, Senior Advisor to Elekta AB: From Inception to Perfexion
Mr. Andras Kemeny, Director of the National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery: The Clinical Role of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery in the U.K.
Dr. Douglas Kondziolka, Vice chair of Clinical Research and Director of Advanced Radiosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, NYU Langone Medical Center: How Novel Research Ideas in Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Changed both Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology

NHNN reinforces focus on neurological disorders with Perfexion

NHNN’s acquisition of its new Elekta radiosurgery technology supports the U.K. government’s efforts to improve access to advanced clinical techniques and will boost research and clinical efforts on neurological disorders. The centre has a collaborative relationship with Elekta.

“In terms of research, the addition of Gamma Knife will enable assessment and evaluation of a range of treatment modalities for brain disorders, particularly for brain metastases,” Mr. Kitchen says. “Clinically, Gamma Knife is a well accepted and proven technology that is a gentle and effective option to standard treatments for brain metastases and other brain disorders that can prolong and improve patients’ quality of life. Among radiosurgery technology options, after detailed evaluation, we considered Perfexion to be the gold standard that would meet NHNN’s clinical and research requirements. In addition, we determined that Perfexion offered accuracy and patient throughput advantages over linac-based radiosurgery.”

A comprehensive and novel research program using Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion is planned, focusing on addressing many specific research questions and subjects. The findings and best practices of this program will be shared with other centres internationally, he adds.

Established in 1860, NHNN is the United Kingdom’s largest dedicated neurological and neurosurgical hospital, treating over 6,000 inpatients, 120,000 outpatients and 8,000 day cases each year. NHNN provides comprehensive services for diagnosis, treatment and care of all conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nervous system and muscles. It offers approximately 200 outpatient clinics each week, covering all aspects of neurology, neurosurgery, neuropsychology and neuro-rehabilitation, in addition to many specialist units, including dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and stroke. NHNN is part of the University College London Hospitals Foundation Trust, and closely associated in its work with the UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, a major international center for research and training, with UCL ranked fourth best university in the world.

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Elekta to Highlight Clinical and Safety Advantages of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery at 2013 AANS Meeting

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT

NEW ORLEANS

2013-04-25

At the 81st American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting April 27-May1 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Elekta (booth #2239) will spotlight the continuing preeminence of Gamma Knife® stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) as the gold standard for treating benign and malignant brain tumors, plus other functional and vascular brain disorders.

“As the only radiosurgery device designed and dedicated to the brain, Leksell Gamma Knife has set the standard of safe and effective treatment of brain conditions,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “Today, it remains the standard by which all other radiosurgery treatments are measured, treating more than 70,000 people a year with more than 800 scientific papers [studies with more than 30 patients] backing the technology.

“Gamma Knife surgery is an exceptional treatment choice for cases in which adjacent critical structures are at high risk of radiotoxicity, such as in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, residual meningiomas and acoustic neuroma,” he adds. “For other intracranial targets such as multiple brain metastases, Leksell Gamma Knife provides less dose to normal brain tissues than other techniques.”

Spotlight on patient safety and provider efficiency

Dedicated to intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery, Leksell Gamma Knife supports enhanced patient safety via the system’s single-focused SRS design and simplicity-of-operation, which decrease the risk of mechanical and human error.

Typically capable of completing therapy in a single outpatient procedure, Gamma Knife surgery has also demonstrated significant efficiency advantages for providers as well. In comparison, Center for Medicare Services (CMS) 2011 claims data indicate that most patients receiving SRS delivered with a linear accelerator require up to four outpatient procedures to complete their course of therapy.

Gamma Knife also will be featured in the Scientific Program of the AANS with results from two multicenter trials detailing the results of Gamma Knife in the treatment of benign tumors and hemangioblastomas, and two single center, large series reports on the use of Gamma Knife in vascular malformations. In addition, Gamma Knife is featured in several breakfast seminars and practical clinics, which will further clarify the role of the technology as an important adjunct to neurosurgery.

Additional Elekta solutions to be showcased at AANS include:

Leksell GammaPlan® 10, for optimal treatment planning for Gamma Knife radiosurgery
Elekta Neuromag® TRIUX, the most sophisticated magnetoencephalography (MEG) system available
Leksell Stereotactic System®, the preferred system for functional neurosurgery and biopsies
Leksell SurgiPlan® 10, for advanced, image-based neurosurgical planning

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Cost Effective Prostate Cancer Treatment Underused in the UK

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:30:00 GMT

Geneva

2013-04-22

Study presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology

Better outcomes can be achieved for prostate cancer patients using brachytherapy, a highly targeted form of radiotherapy, compared to surgery - this is the finding of a new study conducted by PANAXEA, The University of Twente, Netherlands.1

The study, which will be presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) 19-23 April 2013, Geneva, Switzerland used the latest cost effectiveness model to look at relevant recent data for prostate cancer. The study analysed research findings from six recent overview studies, involving 55,000 patients and looked at disease progression, associated costs and outcomes extrapolated over a ten-year time horizon from a UK NHS cost perspective.

The study authors found that in patients where the prostate cancer remains localised, brachytherapy is more cost effective and importantly offers better quality of life outcomes - either when used alone in low risk patients where ‘active surveillance’ is not favoured or in combination with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for higher risk patients.¹

Brachytherapy is a highly targeted form of radiotherapy where a radiation source is placed inside or next to the area that requires treatment. By doing so, it reduces the risk of unnecessary damage to healthy tissue and organs - and reduces side effects such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction.² Brachytherapy is underused in the UK where only four to five per cent of patients are treated with it compared with eight per cent in Germany and 25 percent in the United States.³

Around 50 percent of prostate cancer patients in the UK are treated using surgery ⁴, which is associated with an increased risk of incontinence and impotence compared to radiotherapy treatments.² Despite the increased risk, more younger men choose surgery over radiotherapy – studies have shown that this treatment choice is influenced by the patient’s first consultation with their doctor.²

Associate Professor Lotte Steuten of Health Technology Assessment at University of Twente and the lead author of the study said: “Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men ⁵ and UK survival rates are lower than in comparable countries such as Norway and Sweden. ⁶ Brachytherapy is offered as an out-patient procedure, which means it has shorter recovery time than surgery and our findings reflect that it is more cost effective. ¹ We would urge all practitioners involved in the care of people with prostate cancer to consider these results and how they can achieve the best outcomes for their patients as well as cost effectiveness for the healthcare system compared to other treatments excluding active surveillance.”

Dr Christine Elwell, Consultant Oncologist, Northampton General Hospital, commented: “In the past 20 years we have made huge strides in prostate cancer survival. But we can’t and shouldn’t lose sight of quality of life. This long term analysis joins a growing body of evidence that brachytherapy should be considered in more cases and can improve outcomes.”

Ben Pais, Nucletron, an Elekta company’s Vice President Medical Affairs, said: “The NHS recently outlined its commitment to improving radiotherapy services across England as part of its ambition to save an extra 5,000 lives a year from cancer. ⁷ These findings reflect that brachytherapy can offer better outcomes and is the most cost effective treatment option.”

The study was funded by a research grant provided by Elekta.

Notes to editors
Judith Moore
Burson Marsteller
T: +44 (0) 20 7300 6275
M +44 (0)7 932 053 829
judith.moore@bm.com

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About PANAXEA
PANAXEA is spin-off consultancy of the University of Twente that answers to the growing demand for accelerating safe, effective and cost-effective new medical technologies to the patient. As bringing biomedical products to the market is a lengthy and uncertain process, we offer health economic expertise to model cost-effectiveness and clinical impact, even at the earliest stages of biomedical product development. PANAXEA provides science-based business intelligence and competitive advantage to:

- Improve business plans and attract investors
- Support (pre-)clinical research strategies
- Develop market access strategies
- Prepare (global) reimbursement claims
- Guide decisions on implementation

About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives.

References

Steuten LMG. Comparative cost / QALY of guideline-recommended prostate cancer treatments: a UK cost perspective. PD 0371; 2^nd ESTRO Forum, Geneva, Switzerland 2013.
Prescrire Int. 2012 Oct;21(131):242-8.
Guedea F et al, Radiother. Onc. 2007; 82: 50-54
Buron C et al, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2007;67(3):812-22.
Prostate Cancer UK Available at: http://prostatecanceruk.org/information/prostate-cancer-facts-and-figures [last accessed March 2013]
A comparison of prostate cancer survival in England, Norway, Sweden www.ncin.org.uk/view.aspx?rid=284 [last accessed March 2013]
Department of Health press release, ‘Eight thousand patients to benefit from advanced cancer treatment’.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/eight-thousand-patients-to-benefit-from-advanced-cancer-treatment [last accessed March 2013]

Elekta and Philips Research Consortium on MRI-Guided Radiation Therapy Adds The Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 06:15:00 GMT

Dutch clinic joins group dedicated to developing next-generation radiotherapy innovation for treatment of cancer patients

Nucletron, an Elekta company, to Debut New Flexitron Brachytherapy Afterloading Platform at 2013 American Brachytherapy Society Meeting

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:00:00 GMT

NEW ORLEANS

2013-04-18

Newly released brachytherapy delivery process features logical workflow and intuitive system operation for greater user and patient safety

At the 2013 American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) meeting April 18-20 in New Orleans, Nucletron, an Elekta company, (booth #300), will introduce its newly redesigned Flexitron® remote afterloading platform. Flexitron emphasizes safety and efficiency in the brachytherapy workflow, increasing the clinician’s confidence that execution of all workflow steps will proceed as planned for brachytherapy / treatment delivery.

Key to the new Flexitron are multiple advances that optimize the treatment delivery process. One of these features is an intuitive layout that efficiently leads the user through the treatment delivery workflow. Flexitron also includes transfer tubes that all are of the same 1000 mm length, reducing ambiguity; a “reference zero” at the entrance of the catheter; a dwell position number that directly reflects the dwell position distance; and forward stepping source positioning.

Flexitron features scalable configurations with 10, 20 or 40 channels and is compatible with Nucletron applicators, Oncentra® Brachy and the HDR Real-Time Prostate Solution.

“We are very pleased to introduce the new Flexitron afterloading platform to the North American market,” says Maurits Wolleswinkel, VP Business Line Management, for Elekta’s brachytherapy business area. “We believe Flexitron afterloading is revolutionizing safety and workflow in the modern brachytherapy practice, and since it is designed around an upgradable architecture, Flexitron represents a truly safe investment for the future.”

In addition to the newly released Flexitron, Elekta showcased the depth and breadth of its brachytherapy solutions, including Oncentra Brachy planning system, a fully developed line of body site specific applicators, and dedicated Real Time Prostate Solutions.

Learn more at: www.elekta.com/flexitron.

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