It has been an amazing year for the IsoRay team. The last 12 months have been marked by the release of groundbreaking data for our Cesium-131 Brachytherapy, the realignment of our management team, and a new web presence to maximize our reach and convey our messaging. As we put a bow on the year, and welcome 2017 with new goals in tow, we want to highlight just a few of the advancements made by IsoRay in 2016.
Realigning to highlight the strengths of our team
Our standing CEO, Thomas LaVoy, has served as a Director for the company since 2005 and was appointed CEO in February of this year. LaVoy’s career is marked by success in building and leading publicly traded companies. William Cavanagh, III now serves as IsoRay’s COO. He previously served the company as Interim CEO from January to February 2016, and VP of Research and Development from January 2010 until January 2016. We also welcomed a new VP of Sales and Marketing, Michael Krachon. He joined the team in March: adding the expertise of a seasoned leader in international marketing of Brachytherapy devices.
Developing a web presence to emphasize initiatives
In addition to our new management team, we also developed a new web presence and social media channels to better relay our message to patients and doctors that may not already know about IsoRay’s Cesium 131 brachytherapy and its capabilities in treating prostate, brain, gynecological, lung, and head and neck cancers. Having a more robust web presence will help emphasize our messages, capabilities, outcomes, scientific acumen and initiatives.
If you haven’t spent time clicking through our website, do so now! And to stay informed on the latest Isoray updates and brachytherapy news, follow us on Linkedin and Twitter!
Groundbreaking data for Cesium-131 Brachytherapy
We received our first data from brain studies conducted by Dr. David G. Brachman, MD, Director of Radiation Oncology for the Barrow Neurological Institute. His findings chronicle 16 patients’ journeys through Cesium-131 Brachytherapy with 95% of the treated tumors having no radiographic evidence of regrowth at the operative site (local control). The incidence of radiation side effects to the brain – a problem in previous attempts to perform brain brachytherapy – occurred in only two of the 20 treatments. His findings were presented at the Society of Neuro-Oncology Conference on Meningioma, Toronto, Canada. Dr. Brachman concluded, “While we look forward to a future where systemic therapies are available for aggressive meningioma, our team believes the GammaTile approach using Cesium-131 offers a promising treatment option for patients.”
We also received exciting Gynecological data from Dr. Jonathan Feddock M.D., Assistant Professor of Radiation Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Dr. Feddock presented his findings at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Brachytherapy Society. He described 26 implants which were performed in 21 women who had experienced recurrent cancers of the uterus, cervix or vagina. Historically, they would have been offered radical surgery with surgical removal of all pelvic organs. Of the 26 implants, 21 cancer sites remained visually free of cancer at a median of 14 months following Cesium-131 implantation, resulting in a local control rate of 80.7%.
We are encouraged by this groundbreaking in brain cancer treatment research by Dr. Brachman and in gynecologic cancers by Dr. Feddock, as Cesium-131 may provide effective treatments for patients whose only alternative is highly invasive, life changing surgery, and we look forward to their ongoing research in 2017.
If you are a clinician or patient interested in learning more about the capabilities and benefits of Cesium-131 Brachytherapy contact us at customerservice@isoray.flywheelstaging.com
