Singapore: US-based Varian Medical Systems has received regulatory clearance from Indian Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for the use of its TrueBeam High Intensity Mode for advanced radiosurgical treatments.

Dr Vivek Bansal, director, radiation oncology, HCG Cancer Hospital, Ahmedabad, which is the first hospital in India to commence treating patients using the TrueBeam high intensity mode, said that, "We have used this modality for prostate, head and neck and lung cancer patients, enabling quicker dose delivery and therefore shorter treatments. Higher dose rates appear to offer considerable benefits in organ motion management, for example, larger dose fractions have been delivered in a single breath-hold at our center."

Varian's TrueBeam features a multitude of technical innovations that dynamically synchronize imaging, patient positioning, motion management, and treatment delivery. With its High Intensity Mode, TrueBeam machines can deliver very high doses quickly and precisely, more than twice as fast as earlier generations of technology. 

"The high dose rates that only Varian can offer on its medical linear accelerators are vital for the sort of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy treatments that are used increasingly for primary liver, liver metastasis and lung cancer treatments," said Dr Rolf Staehelin, international head of marketing operations, Varian's oncology systems group. "Regulatory approval means cancer patients in India can now benefit from such advanced treatments."

Mr Ashok Kakkar, managing director, Varian India, said that, "We have also established a dedicated education center in Mumbai because helping to train the nation's radiotherapists and physicists in the safe and effective use of Varian's products is crucial for the future care of India's growing cancer population."