Two female brain tumor patients have become the first people in the south of England to be treated using a faster form of radiotherapy that extends more advanced care to more patients. RapidArc technology from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) makes it possible to deliver image-guided IMRT (intensity modulated radiotherapy) two to eight times faster than is possible with conventional IMRT.

Clinicians at University College Hospital (UCH) carried out the pioneering treatments in October, making it only the second hospital in the country to introduce the technique routinely. Both patients were treated using a single arc - or rotation - of the machine around the patient and the treatments were delivered in under two minutes, compared with 10-15 minutes for conventional IMRT.

"RapidArc performed very satisfactorily in its first treatments, addressing what would have otherwise been difficult brain tumor volumes," says Susan Short M.D., consultant clinical oncologist in charge of the brain unit at UCH. "It delivered lower overall dose to tissue outside the target area compared with IMRT, which was particularly important in the first case because the patient had received previous radiotherapy…