GAMMA KNIFE® SURGERY BEST CHOICE, SAYS CANCER PATIENT

GAMMA KNIFE® SURGERY BEST CHOICE, SAYS CANCER PATIENT

PRESS RELEASE	
Stockholm, Sweden, July 30, 2007

As patient Keith Hinton lists the places in his body that have been treated for
cancer, the recitation quickly requires more than one hand to keep count. His
renal (kidney) cancer initially was diagnosed and treated five years ago, but by
the time it was diagnosed, the cancer had metastasized, spreading to different
locations in his body. He had multiple treatments for cancer on his lungs,
adrenal gland, hip, shoulder and remaining kidney.

Like approximately one-third of all cancer patients, 49-year-old Hinton also
developed metastatic cancer in his brain. Faced with a choice between flooding
the entire brain with radiation or pinpoint radiation treatment of the two small
brain tumors with surgical precision, he quickly chose the latter - Gamma Knife
surgery. "Gamma Knife has redefined neurosurgery for many patients,” explains New Orleans
Neurosurgeon Robert Applebaum. “It is basically surgery without the incision -
which means no pain, no anesthesia and no prolonged recovery time.” 

“With Gamma Knife radiosurgery, we are able to pinpoint a lesion and beam a high
dose of radiation to that area only, even to some areas of the brain previously
believed inoperable,” Applebaum continues. “The surrounding tissues are
unaffected. Gamma Knife offers real hope to brain tumor patients in a completely
non-invasive procedure."

Leksell Gamma Knife is the only radiosurgery device that is specifically cleared
by the FDA for treating brain metastases.

Choosing Gamma Knife surgery

When the first cancers were diagnosed in his brain, Hinton's physicians
presented him with two choices - Gamma Knife surgery or whole brain radiation
therapy.

“I was worried that if I had whole brain radiation therapy it would affect my
quality of life,” says Hinton. “I felt fortunate that the neurosurgeon I was
working with in Hattiesburg (MS) had experience with Gamma Knife surgery and
recommended it.”

“With whole brain radiation therapy, you may lose your sense of balance and
memory,” adds his wife, Jackie Hinton. “It might not have been the Keith I know
today.”

Gamma Knife surgery offered two other inducements. First, the treatment would be
completed in a matter of hours during a single session. Whole brain radiation
therapy and other alternative treatments require multiple sessions over a period
of days or weeks. Second, Gamma Knife surgery can be used again should a new
tumor appear, unlike whole brain radiation therapy which can only be
administered once due to the amount of radiation. 
The ability to have multiple treatments turned out to be important for Hinton.
After his first two brain tumors were successfully treated last summer (2006),
another brain tumor was diagnosed and treated in July 2007.

Treated like family

Luckily, the New Orleans Regional Gamma Knife Center was just a few hours from
their Beaumont, MS, home. There the couple met with Charles Jarreau, RN, BSN,
the center's office manager, who explained the procedure and served as their
liaison throughout the procedure and follow-up.

“Charles is fantastic,” says Hinton. “He and the people there treat you like
family.” “They really went beyond their job duties and were so kind,” echoes
Jackie.

The accuracy of Gamma Knife surgery closely is tied to the use of a stereotactic
frame, which attaches to a patient's head with four pins, and is present during
the MRI scan, as well as, treatment. Hinton recalls the placement of the
lightweight metal frame on his head prior to the procedure. “I wanted them to be
accurate and that's what the frame is all about. Four little pins are nothing
compared to missing the mark!”

Jackie laughs when she remembers the frame. “We called him Frankenstein,” she
says. Despite the seriousness of Keith's diagnosis, the couple laughs
frequently. “Keeping our sense of humor is what has really helped us through
this.”

Fighting the odds

Today, Hinton is encouraged because he is being closely monitored and the
cancers are being discovered when they are very small. “They gave me three years
to live when they first diagnosed the cancer,” he recalls. Now he treasures the
time spent with his two sons, ages 13 and 21, and tends his garden.

“When they first tell you that you have cancer, it devastates your whole life,”
recalls Hinton. “I've been blessed because we've got good medical people on top
of it.” 

At least 150,000 people in the U.S. will develop metastatic brain cancer in
2007, if the statistics are accurate, and that number could be much higher. The
American Cancer Society puts the number of new U.S. cancer cases for 2007 at 1.4
million  and it's estimated that between 20 and 40 percent of all cancer
patients will develop metastatic brain tumors.

During a Gamma Knife radiosurgery treatment, thousands of radiation beams
converge with a level of accuracy of more than 0.5mm, about the thickness of a
strand of hair, leaving nearby healthy tissue undamaged. Local control provided
by radiosurgery for the management of metastatic tumors in any brain location
exceeds an average of 85 percent.


Related Links:
Web site: http://www.elekta.com/
Web site: http://www.braintumortreatment.org/ 
Web site: http://www.irsa.org/ 

******

For further information, please contact:

Peter Ejemyr, Group VP Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 733 611 000 (mobile), e-mail: peter.ejemyr@elekta.com  

About Elekta

Elekta is an international medical technology group, providing more than 4,000
hospitals worldwide with clinical solutions and comprehensive information
systems for improved cancer care and management of brain disorders. 

Elekta's flagship products include Leksell Gamma Knife® for intracranial
stereotactic radiosurgery, Elekta Synergy® for advanced IMRT and IGRT using
X-ray Volume Imaging, and the image guided Elekta Axesse™ system for
extracranial stereotactic radiosurgery for spine and body. All of Elekta's
solutions employ non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques and are therefore
clinically effective, gentle on the patient and cost-effective. Elekta is listed
on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb and the company head office is
located in Stockholm, Sweden.