The Netherlands’ Radiotherapy Group treats skin cancer patients with Esteya electronic brachytherapy

On June 14, Radiotherapy Group clinicians in Deventer, the Netherlands used their Esteya® electronic brachytherapy system for the first time to treat a female patient in her late fifties with two basal cell carcinomas next to her nostril.

Esteya, developed by Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) in Veenendaal, is a form of high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy that applies high-precision radiotherapy directly to the cancer site, minimizing radiation to surrounding healthy tissues.

Treating the lesions in this particular location with surgery would have posed challenges for cosmesis. Treatment with Esteya electronic brachytherapy resulted in good cosmesis and a very conformal treatment. Esteya also offered the ability to treat the two lesions in one field.

To date, the Deventer site has treated six skin cancer patients with Esteya. “The way of treatment and the treatment itself make Esteya an attractive option for patients,” says Dr. Paul Bouma, radiation oncologist at Radiotherapy Group. “The therapy is staged in a small room with a comfortable chair and patients tell us that the treatment is quick and painless.”

Esteya adds an attractive new treatment option for Radiotherapy Group, which for decades has been using linear accelerator based treatment for skin cancer patients.

“Esteya is especially suitable for smaller, superficial lesions,” Dr. Bouma says. “With electron treatments on a linear accelerator, the beam can be too deep and large to avoid exposing healthy tissues. With a sharper dose fall-off, Esteya enables us to treat lesions up to a few centimeters in size at a depth down to five millimeters. In addition, for all Esteya patients the treatment schedule is just six visits [6 X 7 Gy], two fractions per week for just a few minutes per treatment. The conventional radiotherapy course would be 18 separate visits.”

“We anticipate treating 15 patients with Esteya in Deventer this year. We expect this simple and elegant treatment to provide good local control and good cosmesis for skin cancer lesions up to 2 cm in diameter,” Dr. Bouma says. “At Radiotherapy Group we are always looking for ways to evolve cancer care and with Esteya we are pleased to be able to offer our patients a new choice.”

Progress at Esteya site in Ede

In March, Radiotherapy Group clinicians at Ziekenhuis Gelderse Vallei in Ede treated their first patients. Since then, they have treated 21 patients with basal cell carcinomas. The people treated include patients that had previously undergone surgery to treat other skin cancer lesions, in some cases resulting in visible scars.

Radiotherapy Group can now offer a new, less invasive treatment to these patients with Elekta’s Esteya. The facility believes that this treatment will give a better result in terms of cosmesis. Aside from cosmetic concerns, candidates for Esteya are selected due to contraindications for surgery, including the use of therapeutic anticoagulants, but also elderly, less mobile patients for whom a short treatment course with Esteya is more convenient than conventional radiation therapy.

To learn more about Esteya, visit www.esteya.com. 

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For further information, please contact:
Gert van Santen, Group Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +31 653 561 242, Email: gert.vansanten@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
 
Raven Canzeri, Global Public Relations Manager
Tel: +1 770 670 2524, Email: raven.canzeri@elekta.com
Time zone: EST: Eastern Standard Time
 
About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both health care providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,800 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. Website: www.elekta.com Twitter: @Elekta.