Second Mobetron in Cleveland

[10/5/99]  University Hospitals of Cleveland began IORT treatments with their Mobetron, only the second unit of its kind in the world, on July 22, 1999. The Mobetron can be wheeled into the operating room to bring focused beams of radiation directly onto the tumor site when the tumor is exposed during surgery. Doctors at University Hospitals plan to use the Mobetron for patients with rectal, colon, stomach, pancreas, bladder, head and neck, bone cancer, and breast cancer.

"In a single dose of radiation from the Mobetron, we can provide the equivalent of two weeks of daily radiation therapy," says Timothy Kinsella, MD, Director of Radiation Oncology at the University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Kinsella, an internationally recognized expert on IORT who helped define appropriate dose levels for this treatment during his tenure at the National Cancer Institute, says the Mobetron allows physicians to "maximize the dose of radiation to the tumor while minimizing the dose of radiation to normal, surrounding tissue."

"By eliminating the logistics of transporting the patient outside of a sterile OR environment", says medical physicist Dr. Sam Beddar, "the Mobetron promotes a more multidisciplinary approach between Surgery and Radiation Oncology and most likely will revive intraoperative radiation therapy in the next millennium.

Dr. Rod Ellis, assistant professor of radiation oncology at Case Western Reserve University, has extensive IORT experience. According to Dr. Ellis, compared to other IORT systems he has used, "The Mobetron reduces the time for IORT delivery in the O.R. It's design simplifies the process of IORT and adds to system usability."

For more information on the IORT program and cancer treatment at the Ireland Cancer Center, contact 216-844-5432 or visit the University Hospital web page.