Greenwich Hospital Introduces New Radiation Therapy Program for Breast Cancer Greenwich Hospital’s Bendheim Cancer Center (Greenwich, CT) this week became one of a handful of medical facilities in the nation today to offer a new breast cancer radiation technique that enhances treatment impact, while minimizing damage to surrounding tissue. Utilizing a unique radiotherapy table from Orbital Therapy, Greenwich Hospital Cancer Institute will radiate a woman’s breast while she lies face down with her breast projecting below, isolated from the rest of her body. By contrast, conventional radiation therapy is delivered while a woman lies on her back with her breasts against her chest. Quite simply, in the prone position, gravity is working with the therapy by increasing the distance between the tumor site and vital organs, such as the heart and lungs, minimizing the risk that destructive rays will penetrate healthy tissue. Further, prone positioning significantly cuts down on breast motion as the patient breathes, enabling more precise targeting of the tumor site. “This is one of those rare advances that is as much common sense as it is technology, but simply hadn’t been given significant engineering attention until now,” comments Lesley Snelling, MD, Director of Radiation Oncology at Greenwich Hospital, who points out that radiating the breast in the prone position is growing in popularity nationwide and has been validated in a significant number of US studies. Perhaps surprisingly, for decades, the stumbling block to prone radiation delivery was simply the availability of a well designed treatment table with an opening for breast projection, like Orbital Therapy’s ClearVue™ table. “Although prone breast radiotherapy is not a new technique, lack of long term clinical data, uncertainty in positioning, and patient discomfort during treatments have held back this logical way of treating breast cancer patients,” says Orbital Therapy CEO Jason Kosnitsky. “With a growing number of studies validating the decreased radiation dose to nearby normal tissues such as the lung, Orbital Therapy designed the ClearVue™ table based on input from key investigators to address the need specifically created for prone positioning and providing patient comfort and ease of patient set-up. This is helping take the technique beyond the university hospital setting to women around the country.” Lesley Snelling, M.D.

Along with prone positioning, the Orbital Therapy ClearVue TM table also provides Greenwich Hospital patients with a range of other unique benefits not offered by other prone therapy tables. The open design of the patent pending table offers enhanced 360 degree physical and visual access to the breast for treatment planning and dose delivery. Moreover, the device’s unique carbon fiber composition allows radiation delivery through the table itself to target a tumor from the most beneficial angle without the restrictions of conventional tables. Consistent patient positioning is crucial to successfully targeting the same precise location in the breast throughout a six-week course of daily radiation therapy. The open design and solid construction of ClearVue TM enables the radiation therapist to view the breast from all angles to properly set-up the patient. According to Heidy Malin, RTT (R), Manager of Radiation Oncology for Greenwich Hospital, “ With the new table, the radiation therapist has a complete view of the area being treated during patient setup and access to the breast from virtually any angle. The one-piece system is simple to use and leaves little room for reproducibility error in treatment.” Another benefit is that the ClearVue™ table’s ergonomic cushioning design minimizes pressure around the breast opening to provide an added level of comfort. Malin notes that this also is no small issue. “When patients are uncomfortable, they tend to move, possibly compromising effectiveness of the treatment. Comfortable patients lie still and get the full benefits of advanced radiation techniques.” Today, some of these new high-tech radiation techniques are shortening the course of treatment for women who want abbreviated treatment to move on with their lives, while others are enhancing the results for difficult-to-treat cases. According to Domenico Delli Carpini, Ph.D., chief physicist at Greenwich, many of these treatment strategies are not possible with the limited breast access provided by a conventional treatment table. “Often, advanced radiation treatments used in other types of cancer are not typically used for the breast because of difficulties in patient positioning,” he says. “For many of these strategies, the open access provided by ClearVue™ to the breast allows precise targeting in difficult-to-reach areas and eliminates the need to move patients in precise ways to target a second area. Given this, with the new table, the door is open to the full range of emerging treatment breast cancer possibilities.” “This is in keeping with Greenwich Hospital’s strong commitment to patient care and leading edge new therapies,” he adds. “We are extremely excited to offer this to our patients.” With Orbital Therapy’s ClearVue™, a full range of treatment options are now on the table. Heidy Malin RT(R)(T), Lesley Snelling M.D., Domenico Delli Carpini Ph.D., Kitiwan Liu MS.,DABR, Emilie Hanne RT(T) © 2009 Orbital Therapy, LLC Media Contact: