Global Key Opinion Leaders Gather for Australian Radiotherapy Meeting

Key international experts in the field of radiotherapy (RT) gather today at the Brainlab Australian Radiotherapy Meeting in Melbourne to discuss advanced cancer treatment methods and technology. In attendance are members of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) centers from all over Australia to participate in symposia and workshops, exchanging knowledge about new ways to potentially improve cancer patient treatments across Australia.

The meeting, hosted by Brainlab, a medical device company based in Munich, will feature numerous expert presenters, including renowned Australian expert Dr. Michael Dally, head of the stereotactic department at Epworth Healthcare in Victoria. Dr. Dally was the first in Victoria to develop stereotactic irradiation and has treated more than 3000 patients.

“Stereotactic radiosurgery has the potential to extend far beyond our current use and positively influence patient outcomes in new ways. SRS is proving to be more and more versatile for the control of various types of indications ranging from arteriovenous malformations to optic nerve sheath meningioma,” said Dr. Michael Dally, “I am pleased to be able to share my research and findings with my Australian colleagues.”

Other renowned presenters include Timothy Solberg, Professor and Director of Medical Physics at the University of Pennsylvania; Roberto Orecchia, Director of the Radiotherapy Department at the European Institute of Oncology in Italy; and Ovidio Hernando Requejo, Radio Oncologist at the Hospital Universitario, Madrid, who will also share their vast expertise with their Australian peers.

“We are delighted to be able to bring this level of global SRS and SRT expertise and insight to Australia,” commented Phil Cardamone, President of Brainlab Asia / Pacific, “Our Australian customers can benefit greatly from the opportunity to interact and learn from not only our expert panel, but also each other.”

Brainlab will be highlighting some of the company’s latest software innovations, such as the Automatic Brain Metastases Planning Element, which helps to enable efficient radiosurgery for brain metastases while significantly reducing dose to normal brain tissue. This software can provide radiation therapy departments in Australia and around the world with new treatment possibilities for larger tumors and higher numbers of metastases.

These treatment methods have the potential to benefit, for example, women with multiple brain metastases from breast cancer. Conventionally, these patients were treated with whole brain radiation, without the normal tissue sparing that stereotactic radiosurgery could provide.

The Brainlab Australian RT User Meeting takes place from May 30 – June 1, 2014.