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World's First Total Marrow Irradiation Using HI-ART System(R) Performed at City of Hope

Posted on: Thursday, 14 July 2005, 15:01 CDT

The world's first whole marrow irradiation using the TomoTherapy HI-ART System(R) was performed at City of Hope on June 8, 2005. City of Hope Cancer Center, near Los Angeles, CA, is one of the world's leading research and treatment centers for oncology, and a pioneer in the field of bone marrow transplantation. City of Hope performs over 2000 total body irradiation treatments per year in preparation for bone marrow transplantation, which is one of the reasons Jeffrey Wong, MD, chair, Division of Radiation Oncology, became interested in TomoTherapy.

Dr. Wong heads the team that developed the use of helical TomoTherapy for whole marrow irradiation for patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation. "We wanted to explore the use of TomoTherapy to selectively deliver radiation therapy to the entire marrow compartment, sparing radiation to critical normal organs such as lung, heart, brain, GI tract, oral mucosa, hypopharynx and larynx," explains Dr. Wong. "This should result in less toxicity and lower long-term risks."

Tim Schultheiss, PhD, Director of the Department of Radiation Physics at City of Hope, and Gustavo Olivera, PhD, TomoTherapy's Scientific Director, worked together in this important effort.

"We gained valuable experience and found solutions along the process," notes An Liu, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology who is also closely involved with the project and in the successful treatment of the first patient. "TomoTherapy Inc. was there to help at each step."

"This is a wonderful achievement for City of Hope, and an exciting milestone for TomoTherapy," declares Rock Mackie, co-founder at TomoTherapy Incorporated. "I look forward to learning about the application of TomoTherapy for total body irradiation, and hope that it will be able to reduce the unpleasant side effects of conventional whole body delivery."

Dr. Liu is optimistic. "We hope the side effects are indeed significantly reduced as we anticipate, and we are grateful to TomoTherapy for making a theory into reality."

About TomoTherapy Incorporated

TomoTherapy Incorporated (www.tomotherapy.com) has developed a revolutionary new medical system to deliver conformal radiation therapy to cancer patients. The TomoTherapy technology was born out of collaboration with the University of Wisconsin. TomoTherapy is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, where it employs around 250 people.

Source: Business Wire

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