First-ever Gamma Knife in Alaska Offers New Options for Treating Brain Cancer and Other Disorders

Anchorage clinic installs first and only dedicated intracranial radiosurgery system in the state

Anchorage, AK United States — Wednesday, August 28, 2013

In Alaska’s vast expanse of over 586,000 square miles, Anchorage Radiation Therapy Center (ARTC) will be the first Alaskan clinic to offer dedicated brain stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) with its acquisition of Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ system. Beginning in December 2013, ARTC will start to use Perfexion to treat patients suffering from a variety of malignant and benign brain tumors and functional and vascular brain disorders. With Perfexion, Alaska physicians who want their patients to receive the benefits of brain SRS no longer have to refer them to radiosurgery centers more than 2,000 miles away.

 
“ARTC currently operates two linear accelerators, one of which is an Elekta Synergy® system, and with these two systems we treat cancer in a variety of anatomical sites. And, we recently added the capability to perform stereotactic body radiotherapy,” says Richard Chung, MD, ARTC Medical Director. “The one thing we were lacking was the ability to treat intracranial targets with the highest precision. We believe the addition of Perfexion will be very complementary to the scope of our practice, and help us avoid sending patients out of state.”
 
Among brain SRS technology choices, clinicians at ARTC selected Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion for its speed and gold standard accuracy, and because it’s a system dedicated to intracranial targets, Dr. Chung adds.
 
He predicts that most of ARTC’s Perfexion cases will be for metastatic disease, which is cancer that has travelled to the brain from elsewhere in the body. Perfexion, the latest generation Gamma Knife model, provides an enhanced capability to treat multiple brain metastases in a single session. Dr. Chung expects the center will also treat a variety of other indications, including vestibular schwannomas, trigeminal neuralgia, meningiomas and arteriovenous malformations.

 

###

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 3,500 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.

Press Releases

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

All Press Releases