Radiation oncology firm Accuray is touting results from two studies that investigate the efficacy of its TomoHelical therapy system to treat advanced rectal cancer.
In one study, Swiss researchers retrospectively analyzed patients with advanced rectal cancer who were treated with Accuray's TomoHelical system. They found TomoHelical was safe and achieved low rates of severe toxicity on a daily treatment regimen. In addition, four-year outcomes showed a disease-free survival rate of 75%.
In the other study, Chinese clinicians used TomoHelical to simultaneously deliver daily radiation treatments and a targeted radiation dose boost to the primary tumor. The TomoHelical treatment significantly reduced the volume of the tumor with a minimized dose to surrounding organs-at-risk.
This approach allowed surgeons to perform sphincter-preserving surgery while removing the remaining tumor in 80% of patients in the study and subsequently increased the chance of maintaining normal bowel function and preserving quality of life. Treatment also resulted in positive outcomes, with 95% of patients showing local tumor control and 71% of the patients showing no signs of cancer five years after the radiation therapy procedure.
