GenesisCare at St. Vincent’s Hospital Sydney treats first patients with Elekta Unity MR-Linac
SYDNEY, Australia, July 22, 2020 – Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) announced today that the GenesisCare oncology center at St. Vincent’s Hospital (Sydney, New South Wales) has started treating patients with Elekta Unity, a radiation therapy system that allows doctors to see a tumor’s movements and its exact position during the delivery of therapeutic radiation. St. Vincent’s is the first site of 21 eventual Elekta Unity installations in GenesisCare’s global network to initiate clinical use of the system.
In early July the first patient, a 63-year-old man, received treatment for prostate cancer. Since then, the oncology center has also started treating individuals with oligometastatic disease.
“The ability to capture crystal clear images of tumors and their exact boundaries and movements using Elekta Unity has been critical in maximizing the effectiveness of radiotherapy, while also minimizing toxicity," says Jeremy de Leon, MD, GenesisCare’s MR-Linac lead radiation oncologist.
He adds that the system represents a major evolution of cancer treatment in Australia. “It significantly enhances our capability to adapt therapy planning to account for daily treatment-related or other anatomical changes,” he says. “That means each patient’s treatment session can be individually personalized for his or her needs. GenesisCare radiation oncologists have always strived for this, but now they have the ultimate tool to help them accomplish it.”
GenesisCare CEO Dan Collins added: “More than ever in these challenging times, we want to ensure that cancer patients all around the world receive the right care when it’s needed. This is why we are continuing our investment in the latest technology through our partnership with Elekta.
“The Elekta Unity is a significant step forward for patients with complex cancers. Our goal to increase access to this innovative technology starts at St Vincent’s in Sydney, Australia and will extend through our international network, which includes more than 400 cancer treatment centers in Europe and now the USA. Our wonderful physicians and team members across GenesisCare are passionate innovators, and this system will allow them to realize outcomes for patients beyond what has been possible before. We will also foster new research, techniques and innovation based around the huge potential of MR radiation therapy.”
“GenesisCare has always been a leader in patient care and healthcare innovation in the many markets it serves around the world,” says Shaun Seery, Elekta’s Senior Vice President Asia Pacific, Global Marketing & Sales Excellence. “Their adoption of Elekta Unity systems for their global network is evidence of that and represents another important validation of the potential of magnetic resonance guided radiation therapy.”
Elekta Unity is a state-of-the art MR-Linac that is defining a new standard for personalized radiation therapy based on real-time high resolution anatomical and biological MRI at the point-of-care. Unity combines a Philips high-field 1.5T MRI scanner with a best-in-class 7MV linear accelerator and breakthrough online dose replanning software that are fully integrated to enable adaptive radiotherapy and real-time target monitoring.
To learn more about Elekta Unity, visit elekta.com/Unity.
# # #
For further information, please contact:
Mattias Thorsson, Vice President, Corporate Communications
Tel: +46 70 865 8012, e-mail: Mattias.Thorsson@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
Raven Canzeri, Global Public Relations Manager
Tel: +1 770 670 2524, e-mail: Raven.Canzeri@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time
About GenesisCare
Sydney-headquartered GenesisCare delivers treatment to people with cancer and heart disease, the two largest disease burdens globally. They’re committed to leading the change in how care is given and are leading or participating in more than 150 clinical trials. The organization employs more than 5,500 highly trained physicians, healthcare professionals and support staff across Australia, Europe, and now the U.S. This follows GenesisCare’s acquisition of major U.S. integrated oncology provider 21st Century Oncology in May 2020.
Every year GenesisCare clinical teams see more than 400,000 people at more than 440 locations. For cancer treatment, that includes more than 300 locations in the U.S., 38 locations in Australia, 14 in the UK and 21 in Spain, with more than 30 new centers under development. The organization also offers cardiology and sleep services at more than 80 locations across Australia. Their purpose is to design care experiences that get the best possible life outcomes. For more information visit www.genesiscare.com
About GenesisCare and Elekta’s partnership
Over the past year, GenesisCare announced the acquisition of a further 20 Elekta Unity machines, which will be rolled out in Australia, the United States and Europe, over the coming years. To coincide with the acquisition of the machines, GenesisCare and Elekta announced a strategic partnership to advance the ongoing clinical development of adaptive therapy based on real-world evidence. The partnership will see GenesisCare and Elekta work together to create standardized data repositories that advance adaptive therapy technologies and create a platform to assess the clinical value of radiotherapy.
About Elekta
For almost five decades, Elekta has been a leader in precision radiation medicine. Our more than 4,000 employees worldwide are committed to ensuring everyone in the world with cancer has access to – and benefits from – more precise, personalized radiotherapy treatments. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Elekta is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm Exchange. Visit elekta.com or follow @Elekta on Twitter
