TAIWAN TREATS PATIENT WITH NEW CANCER-FIGHTING RADIOTHERAPY SYSTEM FROM ELEKTA

TAIWAN TREATS PATIENT WITH NEW CANCER-FIGHTING RADIOTHERAPY SYSTEM FROM ELEKTA

Press Release 
Stockholm, Sweden, March 12, 2009


A patient with prostate cancer has received treatment using Elekta VMAT
(Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) at the National Taiwan University Hospital
(NTUH) in Taiwan. VMAT enables dramatically reduced treatment times and more
precise targeting of tumors by simultaneously controlling all aspects of the
treatment. It constantly changes the shape of the beam to conform to the shape
of the area that needs to receive radiation while at the same time sparing the
surrounding critical tissue. Like most organs, the prostate can move during
treatment. By delivering radiation in less time, VMAT technology minimizes the
opportunity for organ motion, which further enhances the precision of the
radiation treatment.

NTUH treated the patient with the comprehensive Elekta VMAT solution that
includes ERGO++ treatment planning software. The ERGO++ treatment planning
system uses a special algorithm to perform fast, accurate dose calculations. The
patient was treated on Elekta Synergy®, a multi-functional linear accelerator
that enables clinicians to both image and treat patients in the same frame of
reference, at the time of treatment.

Jason Chia-Hsien Cheng, M.D., M.S., Ph.D. is Division Chief of the Division of
Radiation Oncology, Department of Oncology, and Assistant Professor, Graduate
Institute of Clinical Medicine at NTUH. He says, “Our first patient undergoing
VMAT is a 76-year-old retired gentleman with prostate cancer. He is a father
with many children. He was treated with 200cGy via a co-planar single arc, and
the treatment time was less than three minutes.”

Taiwan's first VMAT patient benefited from improved technology, with better
conformity of tumor coverage and a shorter treatment time than the current IMRT
treatments allow, says Dr. Cheng. “We appreciate the advantages of VMAT with
shorter daily treatment times and the best target conformity. We also see a
large number of patients in our department, so it's important to have efficient
patient treatment flow.”

NTUH is one of the biggest hospitals in Taiwan, and more than 200 cancer
patients are treated with radiotherapy every day. “We are excited and honored to
be the first hospital in the Asian Pacific area to start a VMAT program,” says
Dr. Cheng. “In the future, we expect that the better dose coverage of VMAT
should bring better outcomes and sparing of critical organs in the head and neck
and other complex areas.”

The annual incidence of cancer is increasing worldwide, he adds. “If we can
treat patients more efficiently, we can help more people with precise,
comfortable treatment, and speed up our patient flow as well.”


For further information, please contact:

Lena Schattauer, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 257 22, +46 70 595 51 00, e-mail: lena.schattauer@elekta.com   


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 and radiosurgery, 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,
making the future possible today.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 5,000
hospitals globally, and every day more than 100,000 patients receive diagnosis,
treatment or follow-up with the help of a solution from the Elekta Group.

Elekta employs around 2,500 employees globally. The corporate headquarter is
located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange
under the ticker EKTAb. For more information about Elekta, please visit
www.elekta.com.