TomoTherapy, a commercialized form of IMRT, is the latest is radiation delivery systems. First used in 2003, TomoTherapy treatment is so new, that many oncologists aren’t even trained on it. However, TomoTherapy is gaining speed and is now used in over 100 locations across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

The term TomoTherapy comes from the Greek word “tomos,” which means “section”. Tomography, for example, is medical imaging technology that images “sections” of the body, more commonly referred to as “slices” in the medical community. Thus, TomoTherapy could be referred to as “slice therapy”.

The “slicing” comes from TomoTherapy’s ability to deliver radiation from multiple angles, rather than from several fixed positions, as the delivery system spins around the patient. This allows continuous delivery of radiation to the target, providing a higher dose than what is traditionally possible.

Furthermore, TomoTherapy combines a highly sophisticated form of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), treatment planning, and CT image guided patient positioning. Combining these technologies allows radiation oncologists to obtain an up-to-date image of a tumor location, position the patient, direct treatment right before delivery, and make last-minute adjustments if necessary.

Essentially, TomoTherapy allows for more accurate, higher dose delivery of radiation treatment while minimizing healthy-tissue damage as well 6as treatment and recovery times.

TomoTherapy is commonly used to treat cancers of the lungs, head and neck, breast, prostate, and others. If you are looking at treatment options and wish to consider TomoTherapy, you should ask your doctor specifically about it. Because it is so new not all doctors are aware of it and its advantages over conventional treatment for certain types of cancer.

If TomoTherapy is right for you, a radiation oncologist that has been specially trained in TomoTherapy will be required. Because of its limited distribution, few doctors receive TomoTherapy training during their residency. However, because TomoTherapy is a combination of existing technologies, the experience level in TomoTherapy specifically is less important than a doctor’s overall experience in radiation treatment.

About the Author:

Author Bio:- Vantage Oncology is dedicated to this idea of improving care for patients and their families who are affected by cancer. Our commitment to Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), 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 Art Gib

Recent data from the National Cancer Institute shows amazing progress in several vital cancer-related areas. As cancer-related mortality is falling, so are actual diagnoses of the disease.

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 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 are making it a battle that is easier to fight.

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: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Art_Gib

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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......