Possible Evidence of Paradigm Shift in the Radiation Treatment of Cancers Afflicting the Brain
RICHLAND, Wash.,, Jan. 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — — IsoRay, Inc. (NYSE American: ISR), a medical technology company and innovator in seed brachytherapy and medical radioisotope applications for the treatment of prostate, brain, lung, head and neck and gynecological cancers, today announced the publication of a case report in the open access journal Cureus.
The paper, entitled “Excellent Outcomes in a Geriatric Patient with Multiple Brain Metastases Undergoing Surgical Resection with Cesium-131 Implantation and Stereotactic Radiosurgery,” represents the most recent publication from the Departments of Neurological Surgery and Radiation Oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center. It describes the history of a 90 year old female patient who was first diagnosed with metastatic brain cancer six years previously. Mahase S S, Julie D, Pannullo S C., et al. (December 20, 2017) Excellent Outcomes in a Geriatric Patient with Multiple Brain Metastases Undergoing Surgical Resection with Cesium-131 Implantation and Stereotactic Radiosurgery. Cureus 9(12): e1970. doi:10.7759/cureus.1970.
Based on several neurological symptoms suffered by the patient, an MRI was undertaken which revealed three metastases in the brain. While there was no definitive evidence of a primary cancer, the physicians considered treating these metastases in order to alleviate the patient’s symptoms.
While conventional management of such a patient would often involve surgery and whole-brain radiation therapy (“WBRT”), the WBRT approach has been shown to be associated with a significant risk of negative neurological effects. Although 84 years old at the time, the patient was active and high-functioning and she, her family and her physicians wished to preserve her quality of life and neurological function.
On this basis the treating physicians decided to employ surgery and “focal” radiation – including Cesium-131 brachytherapy and Stereotactic Radiosurgery (“SRS”). By doing so, the clinical team hoped to offer the patient control of the brain metastases while at the same time sparing her possible neurological side effects. The outcome was very positive, with the patient’s brain malignancies quiescent and her neurological function very good six years after diagnosis.
As stated by the study’s authors: “The multidisciplinary decision to consolidate her surgical resection with focal therapy rather than WBRT is representative of a current paradigm shift in treatment approaches.”
This shift in treatment paradigm entails the movement away from complete irradiation of the brain with WBRT and towards focally targeting the cancer with radiosurgery or brachytherapy. Cesium-131 brachytherapy has been reported on several times by the Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork Presbyterian Hospital with positive outcomes, and may be especially valuable when confronting larger brain metastases.
Bill Cavanagh, Chief Scientific Officer of IsoRay, commented, “We believe that focal radiation is the future for the treatment of a number of cancers due to the high radiation doses achievable to the cancer combined with a lessening of collateral damage to uninvolved anatomy. Perhaps nowhere is this combination more important than in the treatment of cancers in the brain. Brachytherapy represents the most focal of all radiation treatment available, and we believe Cesium-131 is well suited for many of these types of therapies, including brain brachytherapy.”
About IsoRay, Inc.
IsoRay, Inc., through its subsidiary, IsoRay Medical, Inc., is the sole producer of Cesium-131 brachytherapy seeds, which are expanding brachytherapy options throughout the body. Learn more about this innovative Richland, Washington company and explore the many benefits and uses of Cesium-131 by visiting www.isoray.flywheelstaging.com. Join us on Facebook/IsoRay. Follow us on Twitter @IsoRay.
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this news release about IsoRay’s future expectations, including: the advantages of Cesium-131 and its delivery systems, whether interest in and use of our products for brain treatments will increase or continue, continued positive industry data fueling renewed interest in brachytherapy and Cesium-131 for brain treatments, strong patient results, the perception by patients of quality of life outcomes, and all other statements in this release, other than historical facts, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA”). This statement is included for the express purpose of availing IsoRay, Inc. of the protections of the safe harbor provisions of the PSLRA. It is important to note that actual results and ultimate corporate actions could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements based on such factors as physician acceptance, training and use of our products, our ability to manufacture our products in sufficient quantities to meet demand within required delivery time periods while meeting our quality control standards, whether additional studies are released and support the conclusions of past studies, whether ongoing patient results with our products are favorable and in line with the conclusions of clinical studies and initial patient results, patient results achieved when our products are used for the treatment of cancers and malignant diseases, successful completion of future research and development activities, whether we, our distributors and our customers will successfully obtain and maintain all required regulatory approvals and licenses to market, sell and use our products in its various forms, changes in laws and regulations applicable to our products, the use of competitors’ products in lieu of our products, and other risks detailed from time to time in IsoRay’s reports filed with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission. Unless required to do so by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contacts: IsoRay, Inc. info@isoray.flywheelstaging.com (509) 375-1202 Investors: Stephanie Prince, Managing Director PCG Advisory Group sprince@pcgadvisory.com (646) 762-4518
