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| Located on the first floor
of the NMMC Cancer Center. Radiation oncologists use high-energy radiation to destroy cancer cells. External beam radiation therapy uses radiation delivered from outside the body that is focused on the cancer. Patients do not actually feel radiation treatments. |
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| NMMC is among the first hospitals in the nation to offer Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, the most precise treatment option available for radiation oncology patients. Using the radiotherapy system, which includes two linear accelerators, precisely placed beams can be focused to carefully target tumor cells without harming surrounding tissue. The new technology is
comparable to that used at some of the nation's leading cancer programs,
including Mayo Clinic, M.D. Anderson, and university hospitals such as UAB,
Emory, Vanderbilt and Duke. Varian, the equipment's manufacturer,
has designated NMMC's Cancer Center as a national reference site, and
representatives from other programs visit NMMC to emulate its services. |
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The new technology increases
the likelihood that a tumor will be completely eradicated. It
enables clinicians to use radiation to treat areas that would have been
considered too risky just a few years ago, such as cancers of the
prostate, head and neck. Each of the new linear accelerators stand approximately nine feet tall by nearly 15 feet long and weigh about 18,700 pounds. The units generate high energy X-rays by using microwave |
| energy to accelerate electrons to nearly
the speed of light. As the electrons reach maximum speed, they
collide with a metal target to release photos (or X-rays). The
accelerator rotates around the patient to deliver the radiation treatments
from nearly any angle. The equipment is housed in treatment rooms
with lead-lined walls. An important
component of the linear accelerator is the multi-leaf collimator. The
device's 120 computer-controlled mechanical "leaves" or "fingers" are used
to shape the beam of radiation so that it conforms to the
three-dimensional shape of the tumor. These leaves do much more than
shield healthy tissue. The tiny leaves are constantly moving and
rearranging the radiation beam so it hits the target while avoiding healthy
surrounding tissue. |
| With the new technology,
patients spend less time receiving treatment. In the past, custom
treatment blocks were developed for each patent. If more than one
area was treated, the blocks would be removed and the other set put in
place. Now that treatment plans are computerized, treatment isn't
stopped to reposition the patient and treatment blocks. The technology compliments NMMC's 3-D computer software that clinicians use to plan, simulate and deliver IMRT and other kinds of ultra-precise cancer care. |
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The radiation beams can be tailored to conform to the tumor from basically any direction. The radiation treatment is simulated before the patient gets on the table. Using mathematical models and visualization software, clinicians mimic the radiation beams and emulate the patient. Then, the computer determines how the radiation will affect different parts of the body, depending on how the radiation fields are organized. On average, radiation therapy treatment regimes average five days per week for approximately six weeks. Once the patent is on the table, a treatment typically takes about five to 10 minutes. |