More than 100 Presentations at Leading Radiation Oncology Meeting Demonstrate High Value and Broad Utilization of Accuray's Treatment Platforms

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ASTRO 2013 (Atlanta) – Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY) announced today that studies presented at the 55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting in Atlanta, September 22 – 25, 2013 continue to reinforce evidence of clinical and quality of life benefits for the CyberKnife® and TomoTherapy® Systems. A variety of indications including prostate, lung, liver, breast and head and neck cancers were represented among the 104 oral and poster presentations, further positioning Accuray as a leader in precise, innovative radiation oncology therapies.

ASTRO 2013 CyberKnife Clinical and Technical Study Summary:
The 43 CyberKnife presentations focused on a range of indications including lung, brain, kidney, and prostate stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which was the topic of 14 presentations. The emphasis on CyberKnife prostate SBRT was timely, given ASTRO's recently announced update to its model policy on SBRT which states that SBRT is an appropriate alternative for select patients with low to intermediate risk disease.

Of particular interest were two[i] prospective Phase II studies which found that the quality of life for patients undergoing CyberKnife SBRT for prostate cancer "compare favorably to published results from radical prostatectomy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy."

One[ii] study of lung SBRT with the CyberKnife System reported lower chest wall maximum dose when lesions were tracked with the Synchrony Respiratory Tracking System compared to static or linac-based treatment plans, and another study[iii] showed very low incidence of chest wall pain, a common side effect of lung SBRT for lesions near the chest wall.

Three[iv] treatment planning simulation studies incorporating the multileaf collimator of the new CyberKnife M6™ System found consistent reductions in treatment time for both radiosurgery and IMRT plans, with equivalent or improved plan quality relative to the prior circular collimator plans or IMRT plans generated for other radiotherapy systems.

ASTRO 2013 TomoTherapy Clinical and Technical Study Summary:
Of the 61 TomoTherapy presentations, several focused on treatment of breast, head and neck, prostate, and lung cancers. The studies showed the breadth and depth of the TomoTherapy System as an efficient treatment option for a wide range of patients and disease types clinically proven to provide strong disease control and low incidence of toxicity.

One[v] notable study showed TomoDirect™ can be used to deliver hypofractionated whole breast radiotherapy with a simultaneous boost to the resection cavity. Authors concluded TomoDirect was, "…an efficient means to deliver accelerated hypofractionated [treatment] . . . with an optimal dose distribution, negligible toxicity and encouraging clinical results."

Another study[vi] presented long-term outcomes of post-operative helical TomoTherapy treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. Overall survival was "among the best observed in recent studies, supporting the idea that this approach represents an alternative option to extrapleural pneumonectomy." In a related study[vii], authors confirmed in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma that either adjuvant conventionally fractionated or definitive hypofractionated TomoTherapy treatment results in a high prescription dose to the treatment volume while sparing organs at risk.

A third study[viii] showed that use of VoLO™ planning, the ultrafast GPU-based dose calculation system, results in "a considerable saving of time during the calculation process" without significant changes in plan quality.

"The clinical benefits of the CyberKnife and TomoTherapy Systems were well-represented at ASTRO 2013. Data on the CyberKnife System continued to support that it is the best option for SBRT, while data on the TomoTherapy System reinforced its ability to treat the entire spectrum of radiation oncology patients," said Joshua H. Levine, president and chief executive officer of Accuray. "Perhaps most importantly for us, the feedback shared by our clinical partners using the new CyberKnife M6 and TomoTherapy H Series sparked several discussions among their colleagues about how both technologies can help expand patient access to the most precise, leading-edge radiation therapies available. We look forward to working with our customers to continue to learn from and share their experiences with the radiation oncology community." 

Abstracts can be found on the website of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics.

About Accuray
Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), is a radiation oncology company that develops, manufactures and sells precise, innovative tumor treatment solutions that set the standard of care with the aim of helping patients live longer, better lives. The Company's leading-edge technologies deliver the full range of radiation therapy and radiosurgery treatments. For more information, please visit www.accuray.com.

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 adoption of new technologies, clinical experience, clinical applications, clinical results, and the Company's leadership position in radiation oncology innovation and the Company's leadership position in radiation oncology innovation. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, including risks detailed from time to time under the heading "Risk Factors" in the company's report on Form 10-K filed on August 29, 2013, and as updated periodically by our other filings. 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 place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.

[i] Chen et al., Quality of Life (QOL) Outcomes Through 3 Years After Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for Early Prostate Cancer: Results From a Multi-institutional Phase 2 Trial. 55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013. Meier et al., Patient-Reported Quality of Life Outcomes in Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer Patients Treated With Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy. 55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013.

[ii] Goldin et al., Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Early Stage Lung Cancer: Quantifying the Effect of Tracking With Respiratory Motion on Chest Wall Dosimetry. 55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013.

[iii] Podder et al., Chest Wall and Rib Irradiation of Lung Cancer Patients Treated With Robotic Radiosurgery SBRT. 55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013.

[iv] Kole et al. Improved Normal Tissue Sparing and Reduced Treatment Time Using Multileaf Collimator Robotic Radiosurgery Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) Compared to Iris Collimator SBRT in Treatment of Localized Prostate Cancer. 55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013. Wang et al. Beam Selection for MLC-Based Robotic Radiation Therapy. 55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013. McGuinness et al., Standard Fractionation IMRT With a MLC-Equipped Robotic Radiosurgery System.  55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013.

[v] Franco et al., Hypofractionated Adjuvant Breast Radiation and Simultaneous Integrated Boost Delivered With Static Angle Tomotherapy: A Prospective Phase 2 Trial. 55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013.

[vi] Trovo et al., Radical Pleurectomy/Decortication Followed by High Dose of Radiation Therapy Delivered With Tomotherapy for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: Final Results With Long-term Follow-up. 55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013.

[vii] Parisi et al. Tomotherapy in the Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.  55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013.

[viii] Mohr et al., Accelerated GPU-Based Tomotherapy Planning.  55th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, September 22 – 25, 2013.

SOURCE Accuray Incorporated