CK for prostate cancer: 2nd National Congress of AIRO Giovani, Florence Italy - June 27, 2009

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>CK for prostate cancer: 2nd National Congress of AIRO Giovani, Florence Italy - June 27, 2009

CYBERKNIFE® TREATMENT FOR LOCALIZED PROSTATE CANCER.
PRELIMINARY EXPERIENCE.

A. Pontoriero, D. Arpa, P. Frosina, C. De Renzis.
Department of Radiological Science, Operative Unit of Radiotherapy University of Messina.


PURPOSE:

Hypofractioned radiosurgical treatment of prostate cancer have been theorized to improve the tumor control over the conventional radiotherapy due to low alpha/beta ratio of prostate. Infact, the low α/ß ratio for prostate cancer require high radiation dose for the tumor control and an hypofractionated schedule with a dose of 38 Gy in four fractions as calculated biologically lethal for the prostate cells cancer. In this report we summarized a preliminary experience with planning target about the volume coverage, rectum, urethra and bladder exposure.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

The Virtual HDR Cyberknife is indicated for patients with localized cancer prostate (T1-T2b) with favorable prognosis (Gleason score ≤ 6, PSA ≤ 10 ng/ml) and select patients with intermediate prognosis (Gleason score of 7, PSA 10,2-20 ng/ml). The PTV, defined with MRI and CT imaging, included the prostate and seminal vesicle, plus 2 mm of expansion for favorable prognosis or 5 mm for intermediate prognosis in all direction except posteriorly. Prior to treatment planning, one week before, 4 gold fiducials are placed into the prostate with ultrasound guidance.

RESULTS:
For our patients treated with Cyberknife the prescription dose is 38 Gy in four fractions at the median prescription isodose line is 65%. The median PTV was: V100 97%, V125 38%, V150 0,61% and D90 4092 cGy. The median exposure urethra was: DMax 4300 cGy, D10 4150 cGy and D50 3683 cGy. The median bladder dose was DMax 3600 cGy and D10 2600 cGy. The median rectal wall dose was DMax 3300 cGy, D1 3273 cGy, D10 2163 cGy, D25 1578 cGy and V80 1,3 ml. the median rectal mucosa dose was DMax 3000 cGy, D1 2806 cGy, D10 2040 cGy, D25 1600 cGy and V80 0,06 ml. PSA levels have steadily decreased to be normal following post-therapy for all patients.

CONCLUSIONS:

The Cyberknife is a imaging guided device for delivering high radiation doses to a precisely three dimensional target volume. It is a non invasive method with excellent short-term PSA response and very low levels of complications. This preliminary report need of further confirms for late complication and effective tumor control.

CK for head and neck cancer: 2nd National Congress of AIRO Giovani, Florence Italy - June 27, 2009

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>CK for head and neck cancer: 2nd National Congress of AIRO Giovani, Florence Italy - June 27, 2009

An event organized by the Directorate of AIRO Giovani

AIRO Giovani Coordinator and organizer of the congress: L. Livi (Firenze)
Scientific responsible of the congress: B. De Bari (Lione)
Scientific Committee: A. Filippi (Torino), V. D’Emilio (Ragusa), M.A. Gambacorta (Roma), L. Livi (Firenze), P. Murino (Napoli)

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THE ROLE OF CYBERKNIFE IN THE TREATMENT AND RETREATMENT OF HEAD AND NECK CANCER. OUR EXPERIENCE.

A. Pontoriero, D. Arpa, P. Frosina, C. De Renzis.

*Department of Radiological Science, Operative Unit of Radiotherapy University of Messina.

OBJECTIVE:
To determine the efficacy of Cyberknife, new frameless imagine-guided, for primary and recurrent head and neck carcinomas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Between July 2007 and April 2009, 12 patients with a median age of 59 years (range 25-72 ) were treated by Cyberknife stereotactic radiosurgery for head and neck cancers. There were 7 female ( 58,4 %) and 5 male (41,6%). The principal primitive tumors responsible of the lesions have been: nasopharyngeal cancer ( 4 cases), lacrimal gland cancer(2), minor salivary gland cancer(1), plasmocitoma(3), tonsil cancer (1), LNH ( 1) . In our centre, we have treated six ( 6 ) primary sites of desease ( orbit, skull-base, maxillary sinus and clivus) and six ( 6 ) locally recurrent HNC (sphenoid sinus, nasopharyngeal and lymphnodes). Three patients were reirradiated and one received concomitant cetuximab (400 mg/mq the week before the start of radiotherapy and 250mg/mq weekly during four weeks). Median dose prescribed was 20,5 Gy( range15-36 Gy); the median prescription isodose was typically 75%( range 60-83 % ) ; the treatment was fractionated for ten patients and in single fraction for two patients. The median target volume was 12,47 cc (range 1,3 -55,5 cc). Non-isocentric conformal treatment plan were used for all patients. Tracking with Xsight Spine or 6D skull was systematically used. Median follow-up was 21months.

RESULTS:
At three months, six patients had complete regression of the lesions after CKSRS, five had partial response, and one had progression of disease. The overall response rate was 99 %. CK-SRS and FSRT established ultimate disease control in 99 % of the patients.

CONCLUSION:
Our early results is encouraging that CK SRS and FSRT are an effective
treatment modality with acceptable morbidity for salvage treatment of HCN. Hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy is a new potentially curative therapeutic option for reirradiation of head and neck carcinomas. The Cyberknife offers an alternative therapeutic modality for treatment of skull-base tumors in case in which surgery cannot be performed or located in critical area.

However, more experience and longer follow-up with increased number of patients would be necessary to determined the role of fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery in this group of patients.

New Internap BoD chairman

thansk to Giannio on the IV MB:

>>new chairman

we have a new chairman of the BOD. Dr. Eugen is out, and Dr. Daniel is in. Let's hope this ushers in some positive change...

Dr. Daniel C. Stanzione

Chairman of the Board

Dr. Daniel C. Stanzione, Ph. D. has served as a director since 2004 and non-executive chairman of the board of directors since June 2009. Dr. Stanzione retired from Lucent Technologies in 2000 where he served as Chief Operating Officer and President of Bell Laboratories. At Lucent's formation in 1995, Dr. Stanzione was President of Network Systems, Lucent's business unit which sold to telecommunications service providers around the world.

Dr. Stanzione is currently a director of Quest Diagnostics, Inc. and Telecordia Technologies, Inc., a global provider of telecommunications network software and services for IP, wireline, wireless and cable. Dr. Stanzione is currently a consultant and serves on the Network Advisory Board at Accenture. Dr. Stanzione holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Science degree in Environmental Systems Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, all from Clemson University.

http://www.internap.com/company-info/board-of-directors/daniel-stanzione.html

Telx out of the gate with new video interconnection service - Equinix on its heels?

from Tier1 Research daily newsletter:

>>Telx out of the gate with new video interconnection service - Equinix on its heels?

For many years, interconnection within carrier-neutral colocation has largely been a niche product – putting aside old-style voice interconnection, the only real application has been Internet peering between carriers, content providers and broadband networks. Although that business model has been very good to the likes of Equinix, Switch and Data, .....

Equinix continues to beef up low-latency products; expansion on tap for Zurich

from Tier 1 Research daily newsletter:

>>Equinix has been moving very aggressively on the financial services front. An increasing proportion of Equinix's interconnection revenue stream comes from low-latency/proximity hosting applications. In addition, financial customers are willing to pay considerably more, per cabinet, for colocation than comparable carrier, enterprise or Internet enterprise firms. Part of what they .....

South Florida hospitals suffering from declines in investments

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>South Florida hospitals suffering from declines in investments

** Broward Health.... ''We continue to perform pretty strongly,'' said CFO Dawn Javersack. New patients are being drawn by new technologies, like the CyberKnife, for cancer radiation therapy. Broward Health has 140 days' cash on hand -- almost seven times Jackson's position **

Cancer Center with CK to open Monday in Gainesville FL

yyy60 on the IV MB:

>>Cancer Center with CK to open Monday in Gainesville FL

Gainesville.com

Physicians and administrators at North Florida Regional Medical Center showed off their newly-constructed Cancer Center Wednesday with tours and a ribbon-cutting. The facility will open to the public on Monday.

Located behind the Medical Arts Building on the east side of the NFRMC campus, the 35,000-square-foot center will offer a complete range of cancer therapies.

It was built at a cost of about $18.5 million, including the equipment, according to Matt Davis, the chief operating officer.

The first phase of the Cancer Center includes outpatient radiation oncology services and the Cyberknife system that delivers targeted radiation to tumors previously considered untreatable, according to Dr. Mark Perman.

ISE Announces Selection of Equinix as Primary Data Center

New Facility will Support Rollout of the New Global Trading System

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today announced that it has signed an agreement with Equinix to serve as the primary data center for its new Global Trading System (GTS), scheduled to begin its rollout in late 2010. Equinix will provide a Tier 3+, state-of-the art facility that is highly reliable and will accommodate future growth requirements of the exchange. The new data center will also support co-location for ISE member firms as well as connectivity to other key financial exchanges and market data providers.

“Over the past several months, we have conducted a rigorous review of our data center strategy and future requirements, and have surveyed many of our customers for their future needs. We are very pleased to have selected Equinix as our primary data center provider given their strong reputation and track record of reliability, security, customer service, and opportunities for our customers to consolidate multiple connections,” said Daniel Friel, ISE’s Chief Information Officer. “By signing this agreement, we are well positioned to support a smooth implementation of the new Global Trading System in late 2010, and are providing a data center solution that meets our customers’ needs.”

“We’re delighted that the ISE has selected Equinix to serve as the primary data center for its new Global Trading System,” added John Knuff, Director of Global Business Development for Equinix. “Our rapidly-expanding New York campus is quickly becoming the venue of choice for major organizations such as ISE that need to work with a data center partner that can support their broad reach and extensive client base. We look forward to hosting ISE’s member firms and key technology partners in our scalable, network-rich environment, and supporting their long-term business within our financial ecosystem.”

ISE Background

The International Securities Exchange (ISE) operates the world’s largest equity options exchange and offers options trading on over 2,000 underlying equity, ETF, index, and FX products. As the first all-electronic options exchange in the U.S., ISE transformed the options industry by creating efficient markets through innovative market structure and technology. Regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a member-owner of The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), ISE provides investors with a transparent marketplace for price and liquidity discovery on centrally cleared options products. ISE continues to expand its marketplace through the ongoing development of enhanced trading functionality, new products, and market data services. As a complement to its options business, ISE has expanded its reach into multiple asset classes through strategic investments in financial marketplaces that foster technology innovation and market efficiency. Through minority investments, ISE participates in the securities lending and equities markets.

ISE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eurex, a leading global derivatives exchange. Eurex itself is jointly owned by Deutsche Börse AG (Ticker: DB1) and SIX Swiss Exchange AG. Together, Eurex and ISE are the global market leader in individual equity and equity index derivatives. For more information, visit www.ise.com.

Level 3 Builds Low-Latency Network Between Key U.S. Financial Centers

BROOMFIELD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:LVLT - News) today announced that the company has completed deployment of a low-latency, fiber-optic network connection between New York and Chicago. The network expansion was deployed using the shortest-path routes and advanced electronics to enable high-speed transaction rates with very low transmission delays – a significant service level requirement for financial exchanges and other trading venues.

“Level 3 designed the low-latency route to support financial services customers as they continue to face intense competition and pressure to improve transaction cycle time,” said Paul Savill, senior vice president of product management for Level 3. “Dedicated routing from New York to Chicago offers Level 3 customers a low-latency advantage with network capacity available today to meet their real-time infrastructure needs.”

The new route offers aggregate bandwidth of multiple 40 Gigabits per second (Gbps) connections to accommodate growing traffic volume generated by hedge funds, investment brokers, financial exchanges and other market participants. Currently, more than 80 Gbps of live financial trading traffic is being carried over the new route.

“There is more to bandwidth services than delivering point-to-point connectivity at the lowest price,” said Erik Kreifeldt, senior analyst for TeleGeography. “With latency guarantees on the Chicago-New York route, Level 3 delivers valuable product differentiation to customers with stringent performance requirements.”

In addition to the recent network expansion, Level 3 has also collaborated with financial services customers to design custom, low-latency network services to select trading venues throughout North America and Europe. Level 3 offers direct connections to:

• 15 Financial Exchanges
• 15 Electronic Communications Networks
• Seven Market Data Centers

By connecting directly to these trading venues, Level 3 reduces network hops and improves routing efficiency to minimize latency for its customers. On-net connectivity to the Level 3 network allows customers greater flexibility to scale bandwidth up to 10 Gbps per second as trading volumes increase.

RTS Unveils New U.S. Equity Offering

SMA and DMA Across Asset Classes

Local data center linked to global network

NEW YORK, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- RTS Realtime Systems Group, a leading trading solutions provider, announced today that it will offer direct market access (DMA) and sponsored market access (SMA) to a broad range of new major U.S. equity venues. With the new technological offering, RTS now offers DMA across asset classes and continents.

The broadened U.S. equity access rounds out RTS' worldwide equity offering that already includes European venues such as BATS Europe, Chi-X, Nasdaq OMX Europe, Turquoise and NYSE Arca Europe, in addition to the major U.S. and European equity exchanges such as NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq, the London Stock Exchange and Xetra(R). RTS is one of the leading technology providers to the global trading community.

With the addition of a New Jersey-based data center powered by Equinix, RTS now provides a local hub for U.S. equity exchanges and liquidity venues in the Tri-State area.

Initially for the new U.S. effort, RTS will soon offer DMA to BATS, NYSE Arca and Nasdaq OMX, with more venues to follow. Traders will have access in a low latency environment to more than 60 international trading venues as local data centers in key financial markets are linked up into a global data center infrastructure.

RTS already provides SMA solutions in multiple markets in Europe, the U.S. and Asia on behalf of prime brokers and clearers.

Hosted RTS technology solutions, including the algorithmic trading platform RTD Tango, enable market participants globally to access cash and derivatives markets in a high-speed, low latency environment while keeping trading and infrastructure costs under control.

Alex Beausang, Senior Vice President, Sales at RTS in New York, said: "While we are very pleased to now offer DMA to several key U.S. equity venues, our offering goes beyond providing solely low latency access. Besides generic order management capabilities, our core technology imbeds risk management components, smart order routing and our popular proprietary API connectivity."

About RTS Realtime Systems Group

RTS is a leading global trading solutions provider with offices in Amsterdam, Chicago, Frankfurt, London, New York, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm and Sydney. RTS is a pioneer in the design and creation of high performance, functionally rich, multi-asset electronic trading software, with thousands of user connections to over 100 exchanges and liquidity pools.

For more information, please visit www.rtsgroup.net

Samsung Smartphones Take On iPhones, BlackBerrys

from Businessweek:

>>With more than 20 new models due this year, South Korea's Samsung Electronics rushes to catch up in the fast-growing smartphone market

More Than 20 Smartphone Models Due

Samsung's approach is starkly different from Apple's. While the real beauty of the iPhone and its latest successor, the iPhone 3G S, lies in the creative use of the iTunes Store to inspire a myriad of third-party developers to write applications for the phones, Samsung's emphasis is more on hardware. To expand its presence, Samsung plans to keep rolling out new lineups of smartphones—more than 20 different models this year alone—to cater to different consumer segments.

Samsung isn't following Apple's initiative to set business direction in partnership with mobile carriers, either. Instead, Samsung lets service providers call the shots as a way to increase its handset market share. "We will continue strengthening our relationship with key operators and work closely with them to develop smartphones meeting their specific needs and to help their business," says Hong.

Such tactics have started to pay off in the U.S., where Samsung has steadily increased its presence. In the first three months of this year, Samsung was the No. 1 handset brand in North America with a market share of 26.3%, vs. Motorola's 18% and Nokia's 7.9%, according to Strategy Analytics data.

Medical Device & Diagnostics Industry

HT to Rayn_ Makr on the IV MB:

>>30 Years/30 Devices

Some of the devices nominated by our readers are small enough to travel through a blood vessel. Some are so large they fill an entire room. Some cost thousands of dollars but will stay in the body for 10 years, and some cost pennies and are designed to be thrown away after one use. This industry is characterized by innovators looking for the best way to engineer a solution to a problem. And device designers are noted for their ability to borrow ideas from other industries.

In the last 30 years, we have witnessed the industry’s coming of age, with its first blockbuster device and its shift from individual inventors and small start-ups to globally recognized brand names. Here is a look back at the devices that have changed the industry and the world.

CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System 1999

Photo courtesy of ACCURAY

The CyberKnife is a miniature linear accelerator mounted to a robotic arm. It noninvasively delivers concentrated beams of radiation to a targeted tumor from multiple positions and angles. The tumor receives a cumulative dose of radiation high enough to control or kill the tumor cells while minimizing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. It delivers to almost all parts of the body, particularly for surgically complex tumors. In 1999, the device was approved for treatment of tumors in the head and base of skull. In 2001, FDA cleared enhancements to the CyberKnife System for tumors anywhere in the body.

da Vinci Surgical System 1999

Image courtesy of INTUITIVE SURGICAL

The da Vinci surgical system has made it possible to treat a broader range of conditions with a minimally invasive approach. The system’s microchip technology and 3-D optics enable surgeons to perform complex procedures by making tiny incisions. The da Vinci offers users greater precision, an increased range of motion, improved dexterity, and enhanced visibility. Because of the device, patients may experience less pain, less scarring, reduced risk of infection, and a faster recovery time. The surgical system has been used to treat heart conditions, prostate cancer, endometrial cancer, morbid obesity, and mitral valve regurgitation.

Trans-Atlantic bandwidth – the hangover lingers

from Telegeography:

>>Trans-Atlantic bandwidth – the hangover lingers

Despite the balancing of supply, demand, and price since the turmoil of the early 2000s, the market for trans-Atlantic bandwidth faces a looming supply hurdle. The trans-Atlantic submarine cable market was a stark example of the capacity glut in the early 2000s. Six new cables entered service between 2000 and 2003, greatly exceeding near-term requirements. The excess capacity and competition crushed prices, resulting in a wave of bankruptcies and financial restructuring.

The bandwidth glut now lies well in the past: rapidly growing international bandwidth requirements restored the balance of supply and demand, and cable operators have been adding capacity to their networks since 2004. Superficially, the trans-Atlantic market now appears sound: prices have stabilized, and demand grew 38% in 2008. However, clouds loom on the horizon.

Type of prostate cancer therapy (CK) targeted for Medicare cut

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>Type of prostate cancer therapy (CK) targeted for Medicare cut

Decision is pending whether the program will cover CyberKnife

Monday, Jun 22, 2009

Despite passionate support for the device from patients and physicians, that’s a very real possibility. The contractor that decides what Medicare will cover in Florida is considering stopping coverage of prostate cancer therapies that use the CyberKnife and similar devices.

The contractor, Jacksonville-based First Coast Service Options, said in a coverage report that “literature does not support an outcome advantage [with the CyberKnife] over other conventional radiation modalities.” That decision is largely based on a 2008 report by an influential radiation oncology group that reviewed several studies and reached a similar conclusion about the therapy.

“However,” the American Society for Radiation Oncology report added, “the overall potential benefits in terms of clinical outcomes, cost-effectiveness and patient convenience are promising aspects of this paradigm shift that warrant further investment and investigation.”

Pulling Medicare coverage for prostate therapy likely would trigger a domino effect of private insurance carriers also pulling their coverage of the procedure, experts say. Since prostate cancer is so common — afflicting 125 of 100,000 men in Florida, many of them old enough to have Medicare coverage — the determination stands to strike a severe blow to the state’s CyberKnife centers.

Morgan Joseph Initiates Coverage on Equinix (EQIX) with a Buy

from streetinsider.com:

>>June 22, 2009 9:34 AM EDT

Morgan Joseph initiates coverage on Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) with a Buy. Price target $100.

Morgan analyst says, "We believe it has entered into a promising revenue cycle with new centers now online, and additional expansion anticipated coming online over the next year, with a 15% increase in capacity expected by 1Q10. Our price target of $100.00 is based on an approximate 10x 2010E EV/EBITDA multiple. We estimate 2010 sales and adjusted EBITDA of $1.03bn and $480mm, respectively, vs. our 2009 estimates of $864mm and $385mm. As demand for Internet infrastructure increases, and Equinix's ability to fully fund its growth to meet demand going forward, we believe our estimates are reasonable...We believe the growing demand for bandwidth has driven, and is expected to continue driving, colocation and interconnection services."

Emailvision choisit Equinix pour héberger ses infrastructures et délivrer de manière optimale ses so

Paris, le 18 mai 2009 -

Emailvision, 1er éditeur international des logiciels « Saas » pour la gestion et l’optimisation des campagnes d’email marketing, abrite ses serveurs d’applications ASP sur des baies hébergées au sein du Datacenter hautement sécurisé d’Equinix, leader mondial incontournable de l’hébergement d’infrastructure informatique.

...

CHOIX

Après avoir consulté plusieurs hébergeurs nationaux et internationaux, Emailvision a fait le choix d’Equinix et a installé l’ensemble de son infrastructure au sein du Datacenter local situé en région parisienne à Saint-Denis (92). En effet, celui-ci est tout spécialement doté d’une architecture physique et technologique de très haute qualité, lui permettant de s’engager sur un niveau de service de 99,999%. A noter que Equinix est certifiée ISO 9001 V2000 pour tous ses Datacentres.

« Nous délivrons notre solution d’email marketing en mode SaaS, ce qui nous amène à héberger nos serveurs d’applications au sein d’un centre physique. Notre principal souci est de ne pas pénaliser nos clients par un manque de continuité de service lié à des problèmes d’infrastructure. Nous connaissions déjà Equinix de réputation, et c’est tout naturellement que nous nous sommes tournés vers eux afin d’envisager ensemble une solution d’hébergement » explique Laurent Fourreau, Directeur des opérations techniques d’Emailvision.