Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network is First in the World to Treat Cancer Patient Using the Accuray Radixact® System with Synchrony® Motion Tracking and Correction Technology

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ: ARAY) announced today that physicians at the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin ("MCW") Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin have treated the first cancer patient in the world, a 45-year-old man with lung cancer, using the Radixact^® System with Synchrony^® motion tracking and correction technology¹. With the addition of Synchrony, the Radixact System was able to track the lung tumor in real-time as it moved with the patient's breathing and automatically adjust the radiation beam to keep it targeted on the tumor. This enabled the clinical team to deliver the maximum dose of radiation they felt necessary to destroy cancer cells, while minimizing the risk of damage to surrounding healthy tissues. The Radixact and CyberKnife^® Systems are the only radiation therapy delivery systems with this sophisticated Synchrony automated motion tracking and correction functionality.

The Froedtert & MCW Clinical Cancer Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, part of the Froedtert & MCW Cancer Network, is dedicated to using advanced treatment options to provide personalized treatments for every cancer patient. The clinical team installed the Synchrony upgrade because they wanted to further enhance the ability to deliver precise radiation treatment to their patients requiring this form of cancer therapy.

"The Froedtert & MCW Radiation Oncology team continues to identify and integrate technical advancements that have the potential to make radiation therapy treatment as precise, safe and effective as possible," said Christopher Schultz, M.D., FACR, FASTRO, Medical College of Wisconsin Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology with the Froedtert & MCW Cancer Network. "We have successfully treated the first patient, diagnosed with a lung tumor, using the Radixact System with Synchrony technology. With Synchrony, we were able to use a smaller treatment field when delivering radiation to the tumor as it moved. Without this technology, larger treatment fields would have been necessary to treat the entire path of the tumor movement. Alternatively, a much longer treatment time would have been needed to turn the radiation beam on and off as the tumor moved in and out of the specified treatment window. Overall, we believe that the addition of Synchrony to our Radixact System will expand treatment options for patients with mobile tumors, including those that are currently too large to treat without motion tracking."

"In our hospital network we've seen an increase in the use of hypofractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy as part of the cancer treatment, making it critically important that we are able to safely deliver the correct amount of dose precisely to the tumor, even to those that move such as tumors in thorax, abdomen and pelvis," said X. Allen Li, Ph.D., Medical College of Wisconsin Professor and Chief of Medical Physics at Froedtert Hospital. "Our comprehensive pre-treatment tests and the initial patient treatment showed us how well the Synchrony technology works in the real-world clinical practice. As a result, we now have an option for precisely and accurately delivering radiation to tumors as they move, which will expand the range of tumors we can confidently treat and the patients we can help."

Listen to the Froedtert & MCW Radiation Oncology team share their experiences using Radixact with Synchrony at this link: https://youtu.be/SRIbJ3_MeKs

Synchrony for the Radixact System is designed to correct for tumors that move as a result of bodily processes, including respiration and digestion, as well as patient movement. Synchrony is the only technology that uses image guidance during treatment delivery to automatically adjust the movement of the radiation beam in synchronization with the movement of the tumor. The beams of radiation are delivered continuously throughout the treatment session as the patient breathes naturally. In comparison, gating methods deliver radiation only when the tumor is close to the expected location and pause treatment delivery when the moving tumor is outside of the "treatment window." This potentially lengthens the treatment time and can compromise clinical efficacy.

Additionally, the combination of Synchrony^® with the Radixact^® System facilitates the efficient and effective delivery of both hypofractionated and standard radiation therapy, making it easier for clinical teams to provide treatments tailored to meet each individual patient's needs. This functionality directly supports the key priority of value-based healthcare delivery models, such as an Alternative Payment Model, which economically reward treatment quality and efficiency to improve patient outcomes. The combination of Synchrony^® with the Radixact^® System is a big step forward for patients, and clinical providers who treat them. 

"We congratulate Dr. Schultz, Dr. Li and the entire Froedtert & MCW Cancer Network team on treating the first cancer patient using the Radixact System with Synchrony," said Birgit Fleurent, chief marketing officer at Accuray. "This treatment demonstrates the value that Synchrony for the Radixact System brings to the treatment of cancer and the Accuray team's commitment to providing clinicians with the resources they need to help them achieve their clinical objectives for all cancer patients, even those with tumors that move."

Important Safety Information
For Important Safety Information please refer to https://www.accuray.com/safety-statement.

About Accuray
Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY) develops, manufactures and sells radiotherapy systems that are intended to make cancer treatments shorter, safer, personalized and more effective, ultimately enabling patients to live longer, better lives. Our radiation treatment delivery systems in combination with fully-integrated software solutions set the industry standard for precision and cover the full range of radiation therapy and radiosurgery procedures. For more information, please visit www.accuray.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

Safe Harbor Statement
Statements made in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release relate, but are not limited, to clinical applications, clinical results, patient experiences and outcomes, and the ability of Synchrony to expand the treatment options for patients with mobile tumors as well as the range of tumors being treated with the Radixact^® System. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if any of the company's assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to achieve widespread market acceptance of its products, including new product offerings and improvements; the company's ability to develop new products or improve existing products to meet customers' needs; the company's limited long-term clinical data supporting the safety and efficacy of its products, including product improvements, for certain users and such other risks identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on May 9, 2019 and as updated periodically with the company's other filings with the SEC.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available to the company at the time those statements are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. The company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual performance or results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. Accordingly, investors should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.

Media Contacts
Beth Kaplan 
Public Relations Director, Accuray
+1 (408) 789-4426 
bkaplan@accuray.com

Jayme Maniatis
MSLGROUP
+1 (781) 684-6610
accuray@mslgroup.com

¹ "Synchrony^® Motion Tracking and Correction Technology" is synonymous with the development name: "Motion Tracking and Compensation Feature for the Radixact^® Treatment Delivery System"

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SOURCE Accuray Incorporated