TECHNOLOGY

The development of new technology offers improved treatment and diagnosis of cancer. At American Cancer Center, we provide cancer treatment using advanced state-of-the-art technology to provide radiation therapy that includes the following:

• 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy
• IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) – A new form of 3D Conformal Radio Therapy
• IGRT (Image-Guided Radiation Therapy)
• Prostate seed implants
• Conventional radiation therapy with high energy linear accelerator
• Skin cancer diagnosis and treatment with an electron beam (without invasive surgery)

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is a form of treatment that uses beams of energy, in this case radiation, to destroy cancer cells and shrink the tumors they comprise. It does this by damaging the genetic makeup of cells in the area of the body being treated, making it difficult for them to multiply and eventually causing them to die. The goal of radiation therapy is twofold - to destroy as many as cancer cells as possible, while limiting harm to surrounding healthy tissue. Fortunately, normal cells, unlike cancer cells, usually recover from any damage due to radiation.

3D Conformal Radiation

Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy is an innovative high-technology radiation technique that we use at both of our centers. Computer simulation produces an accurate image of a tumor and surrounding organs so that multiple radiation beams can be shaped exactly to the contour of the treatment area. Because the radiation beams are precisely focused, the nearby normal tissue is spared.

IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy)

IMRT offers new hope to cancer patients. IMRT is an advanced and precise method of external beam radiation therapy and has been considered the most significant breakthrough in radiation treatment in the past 30 years. It allows doctors to customize the radiation dose by modulating or varying the amount of radiation dose given to the different parts of the treatment area. This modulation is done in highly accurate three-dimensional detail according to the shape, size and location of the tumor.

IMRT directs radiation at the tumor and modulates the intensity of pencil-thin beams of radiation with laser accuracy. IMRT is best suited for prostate, brain, head and neck cancer. For brain tumors, this technology can also perform stereotactic radiosurgery, where a high dose of radiation is given to the tumor in single fraction, resulting in far fewer treatment visits for the patient.

IGRT (Image-Guided Radiation Therapy)

IGRT, one of the most cutting-edge innovations in fighting cancer, combines imaging and treatment capabilities in a single machine. Because tumors often move with changes in body position, IGRT allows your doctor to see and track the tumor at the time of each treatment, and to make very fine adjustments to your position, resulting in greatly increased precision and accuracy of your radiation therapy treatment. Knowing exactly where the tumor is allows clinicians to irradiate only the tumor, sparing the surrounding normal tissue. This accuracy results in higher radiation doses to the tumor and thereby increased likelihood of controlling or eliminating cancer.

With IGRT, the full radiation dose can be delivered in one session or over the course of several sessions. Most patients can be treated as outpatients and can return to home or work immediately after the procedure. IGRT is well suited to treat tumors virtually anywhere in the body including those areas that are affected by respiratory motion.