Presentations at Leading Neurosurgery Meeting Highlight Benefits of CyberKnife Radiosurgery for the Treatment of CNS Indications

Benefits of Frameless Delivery and Fractionation Demonstrated in Favorable Response Rates and Hearing Preservation

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, announced today that significant clinical data using the CyberKnife(R) Robotic Radiosurgery System was presented by top neurosurgery experts during the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Meeting, May 2-6 in San Diego, Calif. The presentations highlight outcomes with CyberKnife radiosurgery including favorable response rates and hearing preservation - further underscoring the System's unique capabilities and benefits.

At this year's AANS meeting, doctors presented on their experience treating intracranial tumors and spinal arterial venous malformations (AVMs) with CyberKnife radiosurgery. Key findings include:

-- Randall W. Porter, M.D., from Barrow Neurological Institute presented experience treating 262 patients with acoustic neuromas - also called vestibular schwannomas - with either a single fraction using the Gamma Knife or multiple fractions using the CyberKnife. Within the CyberKnife group, 67 percent of patients retained their hearing, as opposed to only 37.5 percent in the Gamma Knife group at 16 months follow-up, demonstrating the benefits of easily fractionating treatment with the CyberKnife.

-- Robert L. Dodd, M.D., Ph.D., and associates from Stanford presented experience treating 27 patients with spinal AVMs using CyberKnife radiosurgery with a mean follow-up of 49 months. Findings showed that 100 percent of the patients with follow-up of greater than three years achieved significant reductions in the sizes of their AVMs. The presentation described the largest series of intramedullary spinal cord AVMs - or those that arise from cells within the spinal cord - that have been treated with radiosurgical ablation.

-- Steven D. Chang, M.D., and associates from Stanford presented experience treating 93 hemangioblastomas in the brain and spine, 66 of them with CyberKnife radiosurgery. Hemangioblastomas are often surgically inaccessible, present as multiple lesions and therefore typically require multiple surgical treatments. The team at Stanford was able to achieve a 96 percent response rate at a mean follow-up of 61 months, demonstrating that radiosurgery is "an attractive alternative to multiple surgical procedures for patients with hemangioblastomas."

These presentations further underscore the unique capabilities of the CyberKnife System, which were recently showcased in a supplement issued by Neurosurgery, the official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The supplement, titled "CyberKnife Stereotactic Robotic Radiosurgery", comprised 15 peer-reviewed papers dedicated to CyberKnife radiosurgery experience treating brain and spine indications.

As a non-invasive treatment for intracranial and spinal tumors, the CyberKnife System does not require the use of stabilizing head frames to achieve the sub-millimeter accuracy required for radiosurgery procedures, providing maximum patient comfort. For this reason treatment can easily be delivered in a single fraction or multiple fractions (sessions). This allows the dose to be spread over two to five sessions, which may reduce the risk of damage to sensitive structures such as the cranial nerves, the eyes or the spinal cord. The frameless nature of the CyberKnife System also easily enables treatment of both intracranial tumors and tumors at all levels of the spine.

"CNS applications continue to be an important area for CyberKnife radiosurgery, with more than 40,000 intracranial and spine patients treated to date worldwide," said Eric P. Lindquist, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Accuray. "We recognize that the basis of radiosurgery was formed around these indications and remain focused on continuing to expand this core competency."

CyberKnife radiosurgery offers a non-surgical treatment option for benign and cancerous tumors, as well as other conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia and AVMs.

Accuray is exhibiting at booth #1126. Please visit http://www.aans.org/Annual for more information on this year's meeting.

About the CyberKnife(R) Robotic Radiosurgery System

The CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System is the world's only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body non-invasively. Using continual image guidance technology and computer controlled robotic mobility, the CyberKnife System automatically tracks, detects and corrects for tumor and patient movement in real-time throughout the treatment. This enables the CyberKnife System to deliver high-dose radiation with pinpoint precision, which minimizes damage to surrounding healthy tissue and eliminates the need for invasive head or body stabilization frames.

About Accuray

Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is a global leader in the field of radiosurgery dedicated to providing an improved quality of life and a non-surgical treatment option for those diagnosed with cancer. Accuray develops and markets the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, which extends the benefits of radiosurgery to include extracranial tumors, including those in the spine, lung, prostate, liver and pancreas. To date, the CyberKnife System has been used to treat more than 60,000 patients worldwide and currently more than 155 systems have been installed in leading hospitals in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.accuray.com.

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The foregoing may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties associated with the medical device industry. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements relating to clinical studies, commercialization of products, and regulatory review and approval are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual performance and results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make include: market acceptance of products; competing products, the combination of our products with complementary technology; and other risks detailed from time to time under the heading "Risk Factors" in our report on Form 10-K for the 2008 fiscal year, as updated in our Form 10-Q filed on February 5, 2009 and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company's actual results of operations may differ significantly from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements as a result of these and other factors. We assume 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.

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Omar Dawood, M.D., MPH
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SOURCE Accuray Incorporated
05/05/2009
CONTACT: Stephanie Tomei, Senior Manager, Public Relations of Accuray Inc., +1-408-789-4234, stomei@accuray.com; or Brianne Donahue of Schwartz Communications, +1-415-817-2545, bdonahue@schwartz-pr.com, for Accuray Inc.
Web Site: http://www.accuray.com