SightLine Health Set to Open Austin IMRT Center

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy delivers stronger, more precise treatment.

Austin, Texas, March 7, 2008—SightLine Health is partnering with the Urology Austin group of physicians to develop a state-of-the-art outpatient clinic that will provide intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) to cancer patients in the Austin area.

SightLine has reached an agreement with a contractor to begin developing the 10,000-square-foot facility, which will open in the first quarter of 2009.

By harnessing powerful computer technology to precisely focus radiation beams on cancerous tissue, IMRT delivers higher doses of radiation to tumors while sparing nearby healthy tissue. For patients, this means more effective treatment focused on cancer cells, less radiation exposure to normal tissue, potentially fewer and milder side effects, and the ability to treat some tumors that couldn’t previously be treated by radiation.

Physicians select IMRT to treat a wide variety of malignancies, and it is commonly used to eradicate prostate cancer. Since the prostate is located near the bladder, bowels and anus, physicians traditionally limited the amount of external-beam radiation delivered close to these sensitive organs. By increasing radiation exposure to malignant cells and decreasing it to healthy tissue, IMRT may reduce complications.

“At Urology Austin, our physicians constantly seek better ways to treat prostate cancer and other urinary malignancies,” said practice CEO Jill Medzelewski. “By partnering with SightLine, we can help make IMRT accessible and convenient for patients in our community.”

SightLine continually assesses emerging technologies that offer effective treatments without surgical risks and brings these noninvasive options to the patients and communities that need them. The Austin facility will be SightLine’s second IMRT center, and it operates clinics in Houston, Dallas and Atlanta that provide noninvasive MR-guided focused ultrasound treatments to women suffering from uterine fibroids.

About SightLine Health
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, one of the country’s leading medical communities, SightLine Health brings patients access to emerging technology. It is one of the few U.S. companies offering uterine fibroid treatment with ExAblate technology, the only FDA-approved MR-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) equipment. SightLine is affiliated with dedicated radiologists and gynecologists with decades of knowledge in women’s health and MRI technology—a combination not found in other MRgFUS
facilities. For more information on the procedure and on SightLine, visit www.sightlinehealth.com.

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