First Halcyon IMRT Systems Arrive in UK

Queen’s Hospital in Romford, which has one of the busiest oncology departments in the south of England, can now offer UK cancer patients access to high throughput image-guided radiotherapy therapies following the recent installation of the first of two Varian Halcyon systems.

“The arrival of the country’s first Halcyon systems is great news for local patients,” said Liz Crees, head of radiotherapy physics at Queen’s Hospital, part of the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT). “We are a big cancer centre and we see a lot of patients. These new machines are designed to be very patient friendly and allow treatment to be delivered very quickly while also offering state-of-the-art cancer care.”

“The Halcyon systems will allow us to offer patient-centered, high quality, high speed, fully image-guided radiotherapy,” added Sherif Raouf, director of cancer services at Queen’s Hospital. “We look forward to having the machines operational so that we can enhance the excellence of our patient care.”

Engineered to simplify clinical workflow, the new system’s image-guided volumetric intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), requires nine steps from the start to the end of treatment compared to up to more than 30 steps with older technologies nearing end of life. It is suitable for use in the treatment of prostate, breast, head & neck, and many other forms of cancer.

“We are pleased Queen’s Hospital will be one of the first centers in the world to install this new system, and that they will be able to take advantage of its many features to continue delivering high-quality care to their patients,” said Adele Lyons, Varian’s UK & Ireland sales director.