England’s James Cook University Hospital to Install the TomoTherapy Hi-Art Treatment System
MADISON, Wis – Dec. 30, 2008 – James Cook University Hospital (JCUH), Middlesbrough, England, announced today that it will be installing the TomoTherapy® Hi·Art® treatment system in 2009. Based in the north east of England, JCUH will be the third NHS (public) hospital in the UK to treat cancer patients with TomoTherapy technology. The NHS is now adopting this advanced radiotherapy technology, as clinical oncology specialists become increasingly aware of how the use of TomoTherapy can improve not only the quality of radiation treatment, but the clinical efficiency of a health service often struggling to meet capacity demands of the population.
Dr Peter Dunlop, Clinical Director of the Radiotherapy & Oncology Service at JCUH comments: “We are absolutely delighted that South Tees Hospitals Trust has agreed to purchase TomoTherapy. This is one of the most advanced types of radiotherapy machine available, used for treating certain cancers, including those of the head and neck and prostate. This is the start of an exceptionally exciting time of development for radiotherapy on Teesside. The TomoTherapy system should be commissioned for clinical use by December 2009. We will be able to offer the very best in radiation therapy for cancer. This represents a major step forward in creating a state-of-the-art environment for advanced radiotherapy delivery, and allows the James Cook University Hospital to leap-frog into a lead position within Europe.”
The TomoTherapy Hi·Art system was first used to treat cancer patients in the USA in July 2003. It combines a CT scanner for more accurate targeting of the tumour immediately prior to treatment. The technology also allows an unprecedented level of accuracy in how it delivers the radiation to the body, enabling complex shaped tumours to be precisely targeted by radiation whilst minimising the radiation received by normal organs, which can lead to a reduction in radiation side effects and long term complications from treatment. Lesions from tiny brain tumours to large irregular tumours can be treated encompassing a spectrum of mainstream and rarer cancers.
The TomoTherapy radiotherapy platform is supplied in the UK by Oncology Systems Limited based in Shrewsbury. Julie Mead, Clinical Advisor and Director at Oncology Systems says, “James Cook staff have worked hard over the last few years to secure this state-of-the-art technology, in their desire to bring the very best to NHS patients in the north east. We are privileged to be working with them. This move will undoubtedly place them right up there, with the very best cancer facilities in the world.”
About TomoTherapy Incorporated
TomoTherapy Incorporated develops, markets and sells advanced radiation therapy solutions that can be used to treat a wide variety of cancers, from the most common to the most complex. The ring gantry-based TomoTherapy® platform combines integrated CT imaging with conformal radiation therapy to deliver sophisticated radiation treatments with speed and precision while reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. TomoTherapy’s suite of solutions include its flagship Hi·Art® treatment system, which has been used to deliver more than three million CT-guided, helical intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment fractions; the TomoHD™ treatment system, designed to enable cancer centers to treat a broader patient population with a single device; and the TomoMobile™ relocatable radiation therapy solution, designed to improve access and availability of state-of-the-art cancer care. TomoTherapy’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol TOMO. To learn more about TomoTherapy, please visit TomoTherapy.com.
30 Dec 2008
| Investor Contact: Thomas E. Powell Chief Financial Officer 608.824.2800 tpowell@tomotherapy.com |
Media Contact: Kevin O’Malley Manager Corporate Communications 608.824.2800 komalley@tomotherapy.com |
