Group Florence Nightingale Increases Radiosurgery Profile with Acquisition of Turkey's First Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion System

- Patients from Turkey and abroad receive minimally invasive radiosurgery for cancer and other brain disorders on Elekta's most advanced radiosurgery system

ISTANBUL, Sept. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ – Elekta's most advanced Gamma Knife® platform – became Turkey's fifth Gamma Knife system, beginning clinical operation at Group Florence Nightingale's Comprehensive Cancer Center (Istanbul) on May 25. The Cancer Center's Prof. Dr. Talat Kiris used Perfexion for the first time by treating a 15-year-old Iraqi boy with a partially resected skull base tumor.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a patient friendly alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease, arteriovenous malformations (AVM) and meningiomas. With pinpoint accuracy, the system delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session. Perfexion provides even greater speed and ease of use than previous models.

According to Prof. Dr. Kiris, both he and the Group's administration were strongly committed to acquiring Perfexion for the Comprehensive Cancer Center due to the proven effectiveness of Gamma Knife surgery and to the added sophistication of the Perfexion system.

"For years, Gamma Knife surgery has the accepted gold standard for the treatment of many intracranial indications," Prof. Dr. Kiris observes. "In addition, compared to previous Gamma Knife models, Perfexion dramatically streamlines the radiosurgery workflow and expands the treatable volume with a new collimator. Treatment delivery to one or more tumors in a single session also is greatly facilitated in Perfexion, and allows treatment of a wider range of targets faster, more efficiently and safer than before.

"For me, Perfexion is a neurosurgeon's tool," he continues. "It's very easy to use and if you know brain anatomy very well, the system software helps you a lot."

First clinical cases successful

The first Perfexion case involving the boy from Iraq was unusual, he says.

"It was a highly vascular lesion that bled significantly during resection, so we stopped the surgery, leaving part of it intact. He had radiosurgery with Perfexion and everything went perfectly. He flew back to his country the next morning."

The second Perfexion patient came the very same day, a Bulgarian man with a vestibular schwannoma, a common Gamma Knife radiosurgery indication. This patient also left the hospital on the day of his surgery. Since then, eight other private patients – encompassing an AVM and a metastasis, meningiomas and trigeminal neuralgia – have undergone Perfexion radiosurgery.

"On July 5, we treated a patient with a brain stem tumor from Azerbaijan and the following week we treated two more patients, one with an AVM and one with a vestibular schwannoma," he notes. "Next year, I predict we will treat increasing numbers of patients with one or more metastases."

For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson Melbi, Investor Relations Manager, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com  
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,300 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. Website: www.elekta.com.