Cutting-Edge Radiation Therapy Technologies
Our team offers a comprehensive array of radiation therapy treatment options delivered by experienced, board-certified radiation oncologists who utilize the most sophisticated technology available to localize and treat prostate cancer. This technology includes:
· Trilogy: Trilogy is the state-of-the-art Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) delivery system that enables doctors to choose the most appropriate treatment modality for treating cancer in the body, head or neck, and deliver the full spectrum of treatments, all on one machine in a single room. Additional benefits of the Trilogy System include:
o Respiratory Gating - Used to pinpoint the tumor position, since tumors can move several centimeters due to a patient’s normal breathing cycle
o Computer-assisted Robotic Positioning - Used to pinpoint a tumor’s exact location or determine if a tumor has moved since the last treatment
· Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT): IGRT is the most advanced form of radiation therapy available. It enables doctors to precisely locate and visualize the tumor before each dose is administered while the patient is in the treatment position using radiographic, fluoroscopic or cone beam CT images. Your radiation oncologist may use this information to continuously adapt your treatment program to ensure optimal tumor dose while minimizing the volume of healthy tissue exposed to radiation during treatment on a daily basis.
· Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy: Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy involve highly precise alignment of a patient lesion for high-dose application of radiation in one to five treatments, instead of the many smaller doses given in standard radiation treatment.
- External Beam Radiation Therapy: This form of treatment delivers high doses of radiation from an external radiation source which specifically targets the affected cancer site and minimizes the dose to surrounding normal tissue.
- Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT): Combining the highest level of patient comfort with less side affects than standard radiation therapy, IMRT is a highly accurate radiation instrument that spares normal tissue, allows for superior dose distributions, and is able to treat tumors near critical structures.
- Photon Beam Therapy: Treatment using high energy X-rays that target and kill cancer cells while sparing normal tissue.
- Electron Beam Therapy: A treatment modality utilizing electrons that allow the physician to treat shallow areas without delivering significant radiation to underlying normal tissues.
- Three-dimensional Simulation and Treatment Planning: This computerized planning technique utilizes three-dimensional imaging information to visualize the target and critical structures so that an optimal treatment plan can be designed.
- Electronic Compensation: A treatment technique that is customized to the individual patient that will provide a more evenly distributed radiation dose by compensating for variations in patient anatomy.
- Multi-modality Image Fusion: A computerized planning technique that electronically incorporates anatomical data from different imaging modalities (such as CT, MRI, PET); this provides more clinical information for treatment planning than any modality alone.
- Radioactive Seed Implants: One-time procedure in which radioactive seeds about the size of a grain of rice are placed inside the prostate to kill cancer cells. This technique allows the delivery of a highly concentrated yet confined dose of radiation directly into the prostate gland.
