NASHUA, N.H., June 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iCAD, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICAD), a global medical technology leader providing innovative cancer detection and therapy solutions, today announced it will host a free virtual roundtable event for clinicians, titled “The Impact of COVID-19 on Breast Cancer Surgery and Targeted Radiation Therapy,” on June 4, 2020 at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT. Event registration is available via this link: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5960832272590383888.
The roundtable will feature leading specialists in breast cancer treatment, including the following experts*:
- Charles Wesley Hodge, MD, Radiation Oncologist, Florida Hospital Celebration Health/AdventHealth
- Michael Howard, PhD, DABMP, RSO, Director of Oncology Services, Chief of Medical Physics, Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, Parkridge Medical Center, HCA Healthcare
- Sadia Khan, DO, FACS, Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at Keck School of Medicine, USC, Director of Integrative Breast Oncology at Hoag Breast Program
- Barry Rosen, MD, FACS, Breast Surgeon, Advocate Healthcare, Managing Partner, TME Breast Care Network
- Rakesh Patel, MD (Moderator), Managing Partner, Precision Cancer Specialists, Inc., Managing Partner, Targeted Medical Education (TME) Breast Care Network, Past President, American Brachytherapy Society
“The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unprecedented challenges to our health care system and specifically impacted cancer screenings and treatment in our country and worldwide. During these extraordinary times, it is imperative for clinicians to share best practices and adapt approaches to patient care. iCAD is honored to host virtual events such as this, which provide an educational forum for clinicians to enhance patient care during this global healthcare crisis and beyond,” according to Stacey Stevens, President of iCAD. “In the face of this pandemic, iCAD’s technology is now more relevant than ever. Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) with the Xoft® Axxent® Electronic Brachytherapy (eBx®) System® offers a viable solution that could potentially alleviate the burden to our health system, while enabling clinicians to administer high-quality care to patients who are candidates, while minimizing their potential exposure to the novel coronavirus.”
Xoft breast IORT is a single-fraction therapy option that allows select early-stage breast cancer patients to replace weeks of daily radiation with one treatment, delivered at the time of surgery. This targeted treatment option offers a full course of radiation in just one day, which could contribute to a reduction in the healthcare system resources needed for breast cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce those patients’ risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus by minimizing the number of visits required to a hospital or medical facility.
“In the recent months during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital resources have become limited in many areas, and guidelines issued by a number of medical societies advise clinicians to determine how best to triage the care of cancer patients safely.1 Some breast cancer patients are choosing to delay parts of their treatment for safety concerns,” according to Sadia Khan, DO, FACS, Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at Keck School of Medicine, USC, Director of Integrative Breast Oncology at Hoag Breast Program. “In areas where there is still a high incidence of COVID-19, some patients with breast cancer may opt to choose IORT, which offers a one-dose radiation option for patients who meet the criteria. For those who are candidates, IORT gives patients an additional option to complete their radiation in a one-time dose, which decreases their exposure to the hospital.”
Positive results from a long-term study involving Xoft breast IORT conducted at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian were published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology in 2019.2 Led by Melvin J. Silverstein, MD, Medical Director of the Hoag Breast Center, the prospective study, titled Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT): A Series of 1000 Tumors, found breast cancer recurrence rates of patients who were treated with Xoft breast IORT were comparable to those seen in the cornerstone, randomized TARGIT-A and ELIOT trials, which evaluated IORT using different technology.
“A number of breast cancer patients at our facility have had their treatment delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is concerning to physicians and patients alike, as some cases could potentially progress and it could result in a considerable backlog of patients who require urgent treatment with more advanced disease,” according to Michael Howard, PhD, DABMP, RSO, Director of Oncology Services, Chief of Medical Physics, Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, Parkridge Medical Center, HCA Healthcare. “The concern for a second wave of COVID is very real, but IORT offers a way to help reduce this potential backlog.”
“The reality is, IORT may be able to play a bigger role right now in the treatment of patients. In some cases, it may be ultimately more beneficial to offer IORT to avoid the backlog in treatment as a means of not overrunning hospitals and radiation centers once we are back up and running,” added Barry Rosen, MD, FACS, Chief of Breast Surgery, Advocate Healthcare and Managing Partner, TME. “IORT is one of those exceptional interventions that I believe satisfies the triple aim in treatment: it offers benefits to patients, providers and payers alike. For patients, it offers added convenience, with better cosmetic outcomes and fewer side effects; from a physician standpoint there is an inherent efficiency, as it enables them to condense one month of daily treatments to a single dose of targeted radiation. Lastly, for payers, the overall cost of treatment is reduced as the course of treatment may be reduced from weeks of daily fractions to one concentrated dose of radiation, administered at the time of surgery.”
“As clinicians, we are going to have to adapt to the COVID-19 situation as it evolves. At a certain point, delaying treatment for even early-stage breast cancer is going to come with risk. In many cases, the decision really should be made to go forward with cancer treatment; IORT offers a treatment option that may allow more women to get the treatment they need during this time,” according to Charles Wesley Hodge, MD, Radiation Oncologist, Florida Hospital Celebration Health/AdventHealth. “We are facing an unprecedented challenge in healthcare, and as clinicians we need to come together and adjust to these new realities. For those of us who practice in the oncology space, it is particularly challenging because we are dealing with a potentially life-threatening illness that requires appropriate management. Now is the time for clinicians to work together, to adjust to our new reality, and to come up with an approach that will do the greatest good for our patients.”
This virtual roundtable event is a part of larger series of webinars hosted by iCAD in recent weeks, featuring leading experts in breast cancer detection and treatment. This series has examined various aspects of breast cancer care in the era of COVID-19, including risk adaptive tools and pragmatic solutions for both screening and treatment. To view the schedule, register for an upcoming free event, or view a prior event on-demand, visit https://www.icadmed.com/educational-webinars.html.
*Panelists have been compensated with an honoraria/speaking fee, but are encouraged to provide their own expert opinions and viewpoints. Dr. Patel is a member of iCAD’s Board of Directors.
- The American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS), the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons, and the American College of Radiology® (ACR®) joint recommendations. “Recommendations for Prioritization, Treatment and Triage of Breast Cancer Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” https://www.facs.org/-/media/files/quality-programs/napbc/asbrs_napbc_coc_nccn_acr_bc_covid_consortium_recommendations.ashx
- Silverstein, M.J., Epstein, M., Kim, B. et al. Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT): A Series of 1000 Tumors. Ann Surg Oncol 25, 2987–2993 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-018-6614-3. Accessed via https://link.springer.com/article/10.1245/s10434-018-6614-3.
About iCAD, Inc.
Headquartered in Nashua, NH, iCAD is a global medical technology leader providing innovative cancer detection and therapy solutions.
ProFound AI™ is a high-performing workflow solution for 2D and 3D mammography, or digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), featuring the latest in deep-learning artificial intelligence. In 2018, ProFound AI for Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) became the first artificial intelligence (AI) software for DBT to be FDA-cleared; it was also CE marked and Health Canada licensed that same year. It offers clinically proven time-savings benefits to radiologists, including a reduction of reading time by 52.7 percent, thereby halving the amount of time it takes radiologists to read 3D mammography datasets. Additionally, ProFound AI for DBT improved radiologist sensitivity by 8 percent and reduced unnecessary patient recall rates by 7.2 percent.1
The Xoft System is FDA-cleared, CE marked and licensed in a growing number of countries for the treatment of cancer anywhere in the body. It uses a proprietary miniaturized x-ray source to deliver a precise, concentrated dose of radiation directly to the tumor site, while minimizing risk of damage to healthy tissue in nearby areas of the body.
For more information, visit www.icadmed.com and www.xoftinc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this News Release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about the future prospects for the Company’s technology platforms and products. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited, to the Company’s ability to achieve business and strategic objectives, the ability of IORT to alleviate the burden to our health system and minimize a patient’s potential exposure to Covid-19, to be more beneficial for patients that traditional therapy or to be accepted by patients or clinicians, the impact of supply and manufacturing constraints or difficulties, uncertainty of future sales levels, to defend itself in litigation matters, protection of patents and other proprietary rights, the impact of supply and manufacturing constraints or difficulties, product market acceptance, possible technological obsolescence of products, increased competition, litigation and/or government regulation, changes in Medicare or other reimbursement policies, risks relating to our existing and future debt obligations, competitive factors, the effects of a decline in the economy or markets served by the Company; and other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The words “believe,” “demonstrate,” “intend,” “expect,” “estimate,” “will,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “likely,” “seek,” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on those forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statement was made. The Company is under no obligation to provide any updates to any information contained in this release. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by iCAD, please see the disclosure contained in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available on the Investors section of our website at http://www.icadmed.com and on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
Contacts:
Media inquiries:
Jessica Burns, iCAD
+1-201-423-4492
jburns@icadmed.com
Investor Relations:
Jeremy Feffer, LifeSci Advisors
+1-212-915-2568
jeremy@lifesciadvisors.com
