Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (Varian Medical), a manufacturer of medical products for treating cancer and other medical conditions, has won an agreement with American Shared Hospital Services (ASHS) to provide proton therapy equipment for a new Bay Area proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT) facility.
“Widely regarded as the optimal radiation treatment for a wide variety of cancers, proton beam radiation therapy is the most significant advance in radiation oncology in a generation. AMS is proud to take the lead in making this advanced therapy available to cancer patients in the Bay Area,” said Ernest A. Bates, chairman and chief executive officer of American Shared Hospital Services. “Subject to financing and FDA clearance, we and our partners hope to begin treating patients at our PBRT facility in San Francisco by 2011.”
AMS has previously announced contracts to place PBRT devices at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Orlando Regional Healthcare (with professional services to be provided exclusively by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando), and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center (in partnership with A.M. Nisar Syed & Associates, a leading radiation oncology group). “We are negotiating contracts to place additional PBRT systems in medical centers throughout the country,” Bates said.