Accuray’s CyberKnife goes head-to-head against Intuitive’s da Vinci robot

April 26, 2012 By MassDevice staff Leave a Comment

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Accuray (NSDQ:ARAY) aims to establish a new gold standard for treating early-stage prostate cancer, with a 1st-of-its-kind clinical trial pitting its CyberKnife radiosurgery device against competing therapies, including Intuitive Surgical’s (NSDQ:ISRG) da Vinci surgical robot.

"An increasing number of patients are attracted to treatment with the CyberKnife System due to its unique ability to precisely treat the prostate while avoiding surrounding healthy tissue and critical structures," president & CEO Euan Thomson said in prepared remarks.

"Accuray believes in taking the lead in supporting studies, such as the Pace study, that will generate clinical data to support the benefits of technical innovation and provide the highest level of comparative evidence for the benefit of prostate cancer patients worldwide," Thomson added.

Accuray’s new Prostate Advances in Comparative Evidence study plans to follow more than 1,000 patients across 30 to 40 centers globally for up to 5 years after treatment.

Patients will receive either treatment with the CyberKnife system, surgical prostatectomy with the da Vinci robot, manual laparoscopic prostatectomy or conventionally fractionated intensity modulated radiation therapy.

Researchers will measure erectile function preservation, urinary and rectal toxicity, urinary incontinence and other common post-treatment side effects, according to a press release.

The news follows a new study finding that robot-assisted radical prostatectomy has cornered the market on treatment for localized prostate cancer.

"Contemporary data from the United States demonstrate that robot-assisted radical prostatectomy has supplanted open radical prostatectomy as the most common surgical approach for prostate cancer," according to the study’s authors. "Adjusted analyses demonstrate superior perioperative outcomes after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in virtually all of the examined outcomes," when compared with open radical prostatectomy.

The CyberKnife radiosurgery system uses precisely targeted, massive doses of X-ray radiation to non-invasively destroy tumors.*

ARAY shares took a hit today, trading 3% lower to $7.67 as of about 12:15 p.m. today.

Correction, April 27, 11:00 a.m.: This article mistakenly stated that Accuray acquired the CyberKnife technology through the acquisition of TomoTherapy. The CyberKnife system was originally Accuray’s technology.

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