There are many ways to deliver and target radiation into the body. As with other modalities, radiation delivery techniques give the physician more choices as to how best to treat and target your cancer. Depending on the type of cancer and stage, one or more methods may be used to maximize tumor reduction and minimize damage to normal healthy tissues.
3D Conformal Radiation:
3D conformal radiation is a radiation therapy technique that sculpts radiation beams to the shape of a tumor. This is ideal for tumors that have irregular shapes or that lay close to healthy tissues and organs. Using this radiation technology, we’re first able to view a tumor in three dimensions with the help of image guidance. Based on these images, we then deliver radiation beams from several directions to the tumor. Matching the radiation dose to the exact dimensions of the tumor allows us to deliver a higher dose, while limiting radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.
Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT):
Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a state-of-the-art radiation delivery system. IMRT treats difficult-to-reach tumors in the prostate with greater precision than conventional radiation. As a result, Provision Radiation Oncologists are able to use higher radiation doses and minimize damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.
There are several ways IMRT differs from conventional radiation therapy:
- Employs a powerful, advanced software to plan a precise dose of radiation, based on tumor size, shape and location.
- Delivers prostate cancer radiation in sculpted doses that match the exact 3D geometrical shape of the tumor, including concave and complex shapes.
- Adjusts the intensity of radiation beams across the treatment area as needed with laser accuracy.
Because of its greater degree of accuracy, IMRT may be a treatment option if you have reached the maximum allowable dose of prostate cancer radiation therapy and have a recurrent tumor in the treated area.
Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT):
Our cancer doctors use Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), one of the most cutting-edge innovations in cancer technology available.
Tumors can move, because of breathing and other movement in the body. IGRT allows our doctors to locate and track the tumor at the time of treatment. With this technology, we can deliver precise radiation treatment to tumors that shift as a result of breathing and movement of the bladder and bowels.
This also allows our radiation oncologists to make technical adjustments when a tumor moves outside of the planned treatment range. As a result, the radiation treatment is targeted to the tumor as much as possible, helping to limit radiation exposure to healthy tissue and reduce common radiation side effects.
Symmetry™
Managing respiratory motion.
Symmetry uses unique anatomically correlated 4D image guidance at the time of treatment to give volumetric visualization of respiratory motion and the ability to correct for baseline shifts. Accounting for baseline shift will support delivery of treatments with only small margins required for free breathing. Gating or tracking are not required. This helps achieve symmetrical dose distribution for a variety of planning techniques, including ITV.
- Uninterrupted patient set-up and treatment delivery
- Accounts for baseline shift
- Enables margin reduction
- Simple intuitive workflow
- Ideal for SBRT