How is wet macular degeneration traditionally treated?
Dr. Carl Awh: The common way to treat wet macular degeneration in 2009 is with monthly injections of medication into the cavity of the eye. These medicines block the action of a growth factor that causes the abnormal blood vessels to grow. By blocking that growth factor, the abnormal blood vessels wither away. Unfortunately, these medicines don’t last that long, so we have to repeatedly inject the patients. How does the new trial compare to these traditional injections? Dr. Awh: In the CABERNET trial of the NeoVista EpiRad device, we are combining an injection of Lucentis — the most commonly used drug to treat wet macular degeneration — with a surgery. In this surgery we expose the choroidal neovascular membrane — those are the abnormal vessels under the retina — to a very low dose of radiation. We believe this radiation works together with the drug to destroy the vessels in a way that does not require as much repeated injection in the months to come. Preliminary studies have shown
