June 29 2004  


 

Ottawa, Canada – MDS Nordion and Nucletron, two leading radiotherapy companies, have partnered to bring advanced cancer care to treatment clinics in certain international markets. Nucletron has named MDS Nordion as the select distributor for THERAPLANÒ Plus in combination with MDS Nordion’s THERATRONÒ line of external beam therapy systems. Customers in these markets can now purchase a complete external beam solution from MDS Nordion that includes both treatment planning and delivery capabilities.


“This solution makes sense. Combining a treatment planning system with a radiation therapy unit improves treatment accuracy and patient care.” says Dr. Cyril Danjoux, Radiation Oncologist at the Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre.


THERAPLAN Plus provides a suite of tools that enables users to more fully exploit the functionality of the THERATRON.  Image-based and non-image based planning and aperture defined field shapes, physical and motorized wedges are all supported by THERAPLAN Plus for THERATRON.


According to the World Cancer Report, global cancer rates are expected to increase 50 percent to 15 million new cases by 2020. “The THERATRON is world renowned for providing cancer clinics with reliable and cost-effective external beam treatment capabilities,” says John Corley, Senior Vice President, Ion Technologies at MDS Nordion “Through developments in technology and clinical practice, the THERATRON continues to be a leading option for treating cancer effectively - delivering over 45,000 treatments per day around the world.”


“Maximizing the therapeutic ratio – the ratio of dose to target to that of surrounding organs at risk – is the challenge of modern radiation therapy. To achieve this, a computerized treatment planning system is highly recommended,” adds Mark Adam, General Manager at Nucletron. “Easy to use and accurate, THERAPLAN Plus was the first-ever Windows-based treatment planning softwareand the system is robust just like its treatment delivery partner, the THERATRON.”


Installed in over 80 countries, the THERATRON provides oncology clinics throughout the world with cost-effective and flexible treatment capabilities.


About MDS Nordion

MDS Nordion (www.mds.nordion.com) is a world leader in radioisotopes, radiation and related technologies.    MDS Nordion is part of MDS Inc. At MDS Inc., 10,000 highly skilled people provide services, products and instruments enabling health sciences organizations to enhance the well being of people around the world. We focus on helping discover and test new drugs, assisting doctors to diagnose and treat patients and preventing the spread of disease. Find out more about MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ), at www.mdsintl.com or by calling 1-888-MDS-7222, 24 hours a day.


About Nucletron

Nucletron specializes in the development, manufacture, sales, service and support of the world’s most innovative products for cancer treatment, with particular expertise in Treatment Planning, Brachytherapy, Information Management, Simulation and Service. The company has 22 offices worldwide, including its corporate headquarters in The Netherlands. For more information on Nucletron, please visit: http://www.nucletron.com/.



For more information contact:

Mark Adam
General Manager & V.P. Marketing
Nucletron B.V.
Phone: +31 318 557 149
E-mail: mam@nucletron.nl

Olivia Nixon
Media Relations
MDS Nordion
Tel: +1 613 592-3400 ext. 2832
E-mail: onixon@mds.nordion.com