As the use of breast conserving lumpectomy expands as a treatment for early-stage breast cancer, interest has surged in alternatives to whole breast irradiation. Follow-on radiation treatment is crucial to the success of this therapy, but a significant number of women are either unable or unwilling to undergo the typical treatment course involving five to seven weeks of daily radiation therapy. The device industry is responding with technologies aimed at delivering post-lumpectomy radiation therapy in a more convenient, potentially safer way.

Although prostate problems have plagued men for many years, the growing elderly population is now driving an unprecedented increase in caseloads and a corresponding need for improved treatments. One of the primary concerns is the rise in prostate cancer diagnoses. With more than two million American men currently living with prostate cancer and more than 200,000 new cases diagnosed each year, the market for diagnostic and therapeutic products to address this disease is substantial; more than $2 billion in the US in 2007.

A roundup of recent medtech strategic alliances, mergers & acquisitions and financings.

A roundup of recent medtech strategic alliances, mergers & acquisitions and financings.