Accuray Inc (ARAY)

[grantg2]

Another Lamb's good post - "Rapid Arc"
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_(A_to_Z)/Stocks_A/threadview?m=tm&bn=51532&tid=13180&mid=13185&tof=2&rt=2&frt=2&off=1

<lamb_to_slaughter> 29-Apr-09 09:59 am

Rapid Arc's only claim is that the treatment time is faster, which may be of benefit in countries where demand for radiation far exceeds available technology (?India). It is not an issue in the US. If a patient decides on undergoing prostatectomy for prostate cancer, does he shop around for a surgeon who performs the operation the fastest? Why then radiation? A partner of mine working at a hospital that recently got a Rapid Arc told me that the plans are notably inferior to those with standard IMRT on their Varian LINACs (and the billing is inferior as well, with fewer calc, device, and dosimetry charges).

If a patient getting radiation is concerned about minimizing time spent in the radiation department, does it really matter if the treatment time is 2 minutes (RapidArc), 8 minutes (standard IMRT), or even 1 hour (CK)? Or is it more important whether 43 days of treatment are needed (RapidArc,IMRT) versus 5 days (CK)?

Rjothvas I'm sure knows that 10 yrs ago only brains were treated on the CK. Stanford has only been treating prostates for 5 yrs, and virtually everywhere else was waiting for the preliminary morbidity data to come out of Stanford using the hypofractionated prostate regimen. Given the politics, billing considerations, and variety of treatment options I'm actually surprised that over 3000 prostate cases have already been treated on the CK.

Whatever the flaws of the companies that produce them, CK and TOMO are revolutionary innovations in radiation delivery. Varian has had its share of these over the years as well. RapidArc is not one of them. 25 yrs ago during my residency we treated prostate cancer with arc therapy on Varian LINACs. RapidArc is simply a software upgrade to a standard LINAC allowing IMRT for more conformal arc therapy. Hyped as a "new" technological advance to compete with TOMO, it is a bit of a fraud.

It's interesting that Varian promotes RapidArc as superior to standard IMRT or TOMO with the legitimate claim that the prostate doesn't move as much with a 2 minute treatment time versus an 8 minute treatment time. Of course this claim isn't made against CK, which adjusts the beam direction within 2 seconds of tracking XRAYs being taken. The prostate doesn't move as much in 2 seconds as it does in 2 minutes.

PS - Scientists don't counter technical or clinical points made with sales figures.