Bruce Power, Nordion and Xcision to bring more efficient, patient-friendly breast cancer treatment to Ontario

 

 

 

GammaPod™ Stereotactic Radiotherapy System has potential to significantly drive down wait times and shorten the overall length of treatment

Bruce Power, Nordion and Xcision have entered into a collaborative framework to support the use of Cobalt-60 and the GammaPod™ for life-saving cancer treatments.

“The GammaPod™ is an amazing technology with the potential to shorten the course of treatment, thereby increasing patient convenience and the capacity to treat patients more quickly, which can reduce wait times,” said James Scongack, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Operational Services at Bruce Power. “Radiotherapy programs in Ontario have been at the forefront of advancing the science of breast cancer treatment, and the GammaPod represents the next advancement in improving the health-care experience for patients.”

The framework also highlights the important role that Ontario’s nuclear fleet plays in providing a secure, long-term supply of Cobalt-60 to help meet national and global health-care requirements.

“Continued production of Cobalt-60 in Ontario, and continued isotope leadership and development in Canada are essential to our success,” said Professor Cedric Yu, Chief Executive Officer of Xcision. “Technologies like the GammaPod™ have the potential to revolutionize the management of localized breast cancer and create genuine value for patients, providers and payers like the Canadian government.”

In addition to being a low-cost and reliable power supplier to Ontario families and businesses, Bruce Power is a significant global supplier of Cobalt-60, a medical isotope used to sterilize medical equipment in hospitals around the world and to precisely deliver radiation to treat cancer.

Richard Wiens, Nordion’s Director, Strategic Supply, said the company is delighted to join the coalition and to strengthen its efforts on the increasingly important role that Cobalt-60 plays in the world’s health-care sector.

“Canada’s nuclear innovations save millions of lives every year in more than 80 countries, and Canadian commercial reactors and researchers in the radioisotope arena continue to push cutting edge innovations that the world has come to rely on,” Wiens said.

Together, the organizations hope to extend the benefits of radiation oncology to more patients through precise, non-invasive treatments that allow patients to return to life sooner after treatment with less discomfort.

All three companies are members of the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council (CNIC), which advocates for Canada’s continued role in the production of the world’s supply of life-saving radioisotopes. More than 30 leading organizations from Canada and around the world have joined the council, which will develop collective solutions to maintain Canada’s leadership position on the global isotope stage.

This collaboration is in addition to a number of agreements Bruce Power has recently signed to advance its production of medical radioisotopes. The company’s recent announcements signal its sustained focus on providing a reliable, long-term supply of medical nuclear isotopes at a time when the world is facing a global shortage.

How it works:

· Xcision’s initial focus is on delivering focused radiation to early-stage breast cancer in conjunction with breast-conserving treatment.

· The company’s first product, GammaPod™, is a new stereotactic radiotherapy system optimized for the treatment of breast cancer.

· The GammaPod™ uses a continuously rotating multi-source Cobalt-60 system to creating thousands of beam angles during treatment.

· The individual beams converge to create an intense focal spot, delivering the full dose to the target while sparing surrounding healthy tissue, the heart and lungs.

About Bruce Power Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is an electricity company based in Bruce County, Ontario. We are powered by our people. Our 4,200 employees are the foundation of our accomplishments and are proud of the role they play in safely delivering clean, reliable, low-cost nuclear power to families and businesses across the province. Bruce Power is also a significant source of Cobalt-60, a radioisotope used for the sterilization of medical equipment around the world as well as a specialized form of cancer treatment called the Gamma Knife. Learn more at www.brucepower.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.

About Nordion

Nordion, a Sotera Health company, has been a leading provider of Cobalt-60 to global customers for more than 70 years. The gamma rays emitted by Cobalt-60 are used for sterilization of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, reduction of pathogens in food, irradiation of high-performance industrial materials, and cancer treatment. Sotera Health LLC, along with its business entities, is the world’s leading, fully integrated protector of global health. Sotera Health goes to market through its three best-in-class companies – Nelson Labs(tm), Nordion(r), and Sterigenics(r) – with the mission of safeguarding global health every day.

About Xcision Medical Systems, LLC

Xcision is a medical technology company developing advanced stereotactic radiotherapy solutions with the potential to significantly improve the quality of cancer care as well as the lives of patients. The company’s technology is designed to extend the benefits of radiation oncology to more patients and enable precision non-invasive treatments that allow patients to return to living fuller lives more quickly with less discomfort after receiving a cancer diagnosis.