Diacor news and opinion

Diacor is pleased to announce that VN Medica Ltd became Diacor's newest global distributor.  VN Medica Ltd will represent Diacor's Centralite Patient Alignment Lasers, MammoRx Breast Immobilization Systems, Zephyr Patient Transport System, and CT Overlays. 

Diacor is looking forward to working with Chi Vo and his team.  Please click here for contact information on VN Medica Ltd.

AARP Bulletin: "Two years after undergoing a double mastectomy and chemotherapy so severe she was hospitalized in intensive care for several weeks, breast cancer survivor Denise Hicks should be following what her doctors call 'the plan,'" which includes additional medications and treatments. But she can't. "Hicks has health insurance but already reached her coverage limits. So the CT scan that her oncologist 'strongly advised" months ago to check a possible recurrence remains undone. … She's also skipping recommended medications. … Hick's disquieting predicament is not unique. At least 2 million Americans—roughly one in six cancer survivors—decide to forgo at least some of their recommended follow-up medical care because of the cost, according to recent research" published in the medical journal Cancer (Kirchheimer, 8/27).

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Realizing that it's been a while since our last posting, we thought we would play some catch up regarding Diacor's activities during the past few weeks.  Diacor joined with many other radiation therapy professionals from around the globe for the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physicist in Medicine (AAPM) in Philadelphia, PA from July 17th - 21st. 

AAPM is the premier organization in medical physics.  It's membership includes medical physicists who specialize in research that develops cutting-edge technologies as well as board-certified medical physicists located in community hospitals, clinics and academic centers.  Meeting highlights ranged from studies on SBRT, IMRT, to new multisource X-Ray Imaging Technology.

According to a report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) published online July 7 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, cancer mortality rates continued a 20 year decline.  The overall death rate from cancer in the US in 2007 was 178.4 per 100,000, a relative decrease of 1.3% from 2006, when the rate was 180.7 per 100,000.  Another interesting highlight from the report was that lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women in 1987 and is expected to account for 26% of all female cancer deaths in 2010.

"This report is yet more proof we are creating a world with more birthdays," said John R. Seffrin, PhD., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN).

Diacor is thrilled to announce that we'll have a booth at this year's ESTRO 29.  The annual meeting of ESTRO will be held in the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain from September 12-16, 2010.  Diacor's booth number is 445. 

We've worked hard to build our European distributor network over the past few years.  ESTRO is the premier meeting for radiation oncology professionals in Europe and we're honored to participate in this year's technical exhibits.  Please stop by our booth and visit with our European distributors, view first hand the Zephyr Patient Transport System, as well learn more about Diacor's breast immobilization systems, patient alignment lasers, and CT Overlays for CT SIM. 

We look forward to seeing you in Barcelona!

Diacor is pleased to announce that Biomedia Holdings Pte Ltd will begin representing Diacor products and solutions in Singapore.  Myra Chung, Marketing Director for Biomedia Holdings, and Diacor confirmed the agreement over the weekend.  Diacor is thrilled with the opportunity to work with Myra and the Biomedia Holdings organization and looks forward to supporting their sales and marketing efforts in the Singapore market.  Biomedia will represent the following Diacor product families:

• Centralite and Centralite CT Patient Alignment Lasers
• MammoRx Breast and Thorax Immobilization System
• Zephyr Patient Transport System
• CT Overlays

Please visit our distributor section for contact information for Biomedia Holdings.

Y.K. Almoayyed & Sons BSC(c) will begin representing Diacor solutions for radiation therapy in the Kingdom of Bahrain.  We excited about this new partnership and working with the Bio-Medical Division of Y.K. Almoayyed and Sons.  Our Centralite Patient Alignment Lasers, MammoRx Immobilization Systems, Zephyr Patient Transport System, and our CT Overlays will all be available through this new partnership. 

Diacor is pleased to announce that Al Haddad Medical became Diacor's newest global distributor.  Based in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, Al Haddad Medical will represent Diacor's Centralite Patient Alignment Lasers, MammoRx Breast Immobilization Systems, Zephyr Patient Transport System, and CT Overlays.  Diacor looks forward to working with Dr. Reda Al Haddad and his team in the weeks and months ahead.

ASTRO released a press release yesterday, noting a study in the June 1st issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, that breast cancer patients can reduce their risk of recurrence by almost 30% and increase their five-year overall survival by almost 50% with use of Postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT).  Click here to view the full press release.

DEGRO opened this past Thursday, June 3, 2010, with an opening reception and the first chance to view the new Zephyr Patient Transport System from Diacor at a major European trade show for radiation therapy.  Mike Koger, Product Specialist for the Zephyr, traveled to Magdeburg, Germany to support Diacor's exclusive distributor for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland - HEK Medical.  After the first full day of DEGRO, it sounds like the Zephyr has been a hit with conference attendees. 

In addition to the Zephyr, HEK Medical has product information on all of Diacor's other product families - Centralite and Centralite CT Patient Alignment Lasers, MammoRx Breast Immobilization Systems, Integra Head and Neck Immobilization, and CT Overlays for CT SIM. 

Here's a few images from Germany....