What this means is that the United States has now
successfully identified some causes of cancer and we are making progress
towards cancer prevention.
Additionally, the nation is making huge strides in cancer
treatment, utilizing years of research and new technology to develop state of
the art radiation therapies and treatments.
One relatively new form of radiation therapy, first used
clinically in 2003, is called TomoTherapy, an innovative form of CT guided IMRT
(or Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy).
The primary advantage to using TomoTherapy is its precise
delivery of radiation to a cancerous tumor, while sparing the healthy tissue
around it. The radiation sources encircle the patient and use a multi-leaf
collimator, which allows the tumor to be targeted more precisely.
Because of this innovative technology, a radiation
oncologist can treat areas that are difficult or impossible for other machines
to reach, such as treating just the lining of the lung and not the lung itself,
or taking on tumors on the edge of the spinal cord without risking damage to
the spinal cord itself.
For more simple cases, such as breast cancer that has not
metastasized, TomoTherapy may not be the best solution, because other methods
can deliver the radiation safely while using much less time.
TomoTherapy's primary benefit is for the most complicated
tumor placements where the treatment time is a reasonable trade-off for
precision and preserving of healthy tissue.
TomoTherapy Planning
Before beginning any TomoTherapy treatment, the radiation
oncologist will determine the precise topography of the tumor using complex,
three dimensional imaging software. Using this image, he will determine the
contours and intricacies of the tumor, which will help him determine the surface
area, and thus allowing him to calculate the amount of radiation that is needed
for each TomoTherapy session as well as the acceptable levels for the
surrounding areas.
The TomoTherapy planning station is then used to calculate
the pattern, position, and intensity for the radiation to be delivered to the
affected area. Precise positioning is imperative for effective radiation
therapy, and because a patient's position can change slightly from session to
session it is necessary to take CT images of the patient before each session.
As times continue to change, there will probably be new and
updated techniques available for radiation oncologists to use, many of them,
perhaps, based on the TomoTherapy solutions that have been developed and
continue to be useful tools in the fight against cancer.
Doctors and scientists are confident that there will be a cure for cancer in the coming years, but until then it is a comfort to know that advances, such as TomoTherapy, are making it a battle that is easier to fight.
Author Resource:- Vantage Oncology (http://www.vantageoncology.com) offers comprehensive development, implementation and management solutions for radiation oncologists. They incorporate a radiation oncologist network as well as useful information on cancer treatment methods, such as TomoTherapy.
Article Source: DesireToRetire.com
