Oncology is a branch of medicine that studies cancerous tumors and develops methods and techniques for treatment. Those who practice oncology are known as oncologists.

There are two main branches of oncology:

1. Medical oncology
2. Radiation oncology

Medical oncology has contributed chemotherapy, while radiation oncology has and continues to contribute many new technologies, mainly in the form of new radiation-delivery methods.

Although it may seem that radiation oncology is limited in its ability to expand, grow, and develop increasingly improving treatments, the rapid advancements in computer and other technologies outside the medical field are assisting in the advancement of radiation oncology, making it a continuously changing field.

Despite tough training and education requirements, it is the exciting changes in oncology that attract many doctors to this field. As amazing as it may seem, the advances in oncology from just the last two decades has resulted in far lower mortality rates and survival rates astronomically higher than they were just 20 years ago.

Advances in cancer detection and public education about cancer have also contributed to increased survival rates. For most kinds of cancer, oncologists are now able to successfully treat the patients thanks to early detection, allowing treatment to begin before the cancer has a chance to grow out of control.

One of the more recent advances in radiation oncology is TomoTherapy, a commercialized type of IMRT (intensity modulated radiation therapy) that provides new and more effective radiation-delivery. TomoTherapy is a perfect example of the work being done in radiation oncology.

TomoTherapy does not actually provide any new technologies, but rather integrates several older technologies into one detection and delivery system. It also improves on the delivery of radiation to a tumor site by rotating around the patient, allowing it to deliver a higher dose of overall radiation from several angles rather than many fixed beams of weaker radiation.

Delivering high amounts of radiation is one of the best ways to treat cancer. However, since tumors are inside the body and surrounded by healthy tissue that you don’t want to damage, delivering such high amounts of radiation to effectively treat a tumor is enough to kill the patient. But thanks to modern delivery methods, radiation oncologists have been able to more precisely target the cancer while sparing healthy tissue, thereby allowing for higher doses of radiation, without extra harm or danger to the patient, which equates to faster recovery times and higher survival rates.

Every advancement in radiation oncology, and oncology in general, leads to a day when cancer of all types will be as easily treatable as a broken arm.

About the Author:

Author Bio:- Vantage Oncology is dedicated to the idea of improving care for patients and their families who are affected by cancer. Our commitment to Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), radiation oncology, radiosurgery and TomoTherapy continues as we search for newer and better ways to treat cancer and improve the lives of cancer survivors.

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by VantageOncology

The treatment of cancer and cancerous tumors has advanced a great deal in the last several years. Survival rates are much higher than they were just a decade ago thanks to advances in medical technology, diagnosis, and treatment which give radiation oncologists the tools needed in the quest to reduce cancer-related mortality until it is no longer a threat.

Among the advances in radiotherapy are methods such as IGRT (Image Guided Radiation Therapy), IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy), and TomoTherapy.

IGRT

Image-guided radiation therapy (or image-guided radiotherapy) is radiation treatment delivered with the guidance of imaging equipment.

Cancerous tumors can sometimes move due to a patient's normal activities or just from being moved around the treatment table. By taking an image of the tumor just prior to treatment, the tumor's location can be precisely confirmed, allowing the delivery of radiation to be delivered directly to the tumor instead of to surrounding healthy tissue.

IMRT

Intensity modulated radiotherapy uses a system of shields in addition to other advanced methodology to protect healthy tissue, maximizing radiation delivery to the tumor.

IMRT delivers thousands of tiny beams from different angles, delivering high doses that are concave in shape, sparing normal tissue that is extremely close to and surrounded by a tumor. This is extremely effective for small, stationary tumors that are surrounded by large amounts of healthy tissue, which can include tumors in the brain, head and neck, prostate, or spinal cord.

TomoTherapy

TomoTherapy delivers a very sophisticated IMRT to combine treatment planning, CT image-guided patient positioning, and treatment delivery into a single integrated system. TomoTherapy allows the radiation oncologist to adjust the radiation beam to precisely target the tumor according to its size, shape, and location.

Tumor position can be verified before each treatment session, allowing on-the-fly adjustments to ensure accurate radiation delivery.

The goal of advancing radiotherapy technology, as it has always been in oncology, is to deliver lethal radiation directly to the tumor, spare as much healthy tissue as possible, and decrease the impact on a patient's quality of life.

Vantage Oncology is dedicated to this idea of improving care for patients and their families who are affected by cancer. Our commitment to radiosurgery and radiotherapy continues as we search for newer and better ways to treat cancer and improve the lives of cancer survivors.

About the Author

Vantage Oncology is dedicated to this idea of improving care for patients and their families who are affected by cancer. Our commitment to radiosurgery and radiotherapy continues as we search for newer and better ways to treat cancer and improve the lives of cancer survivors.

Read More......