Steven Olszewski, M.D., says the new unit tomotherapy targets tumors better.
A new generation of radiation therapy is giving doctors at South Miami Hospital an unprecedented ability to treat cancer with greater precision.
Tomotherapy, as it’s called, links in one machine the accuracy of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with the image-guided benefits of a built-in CT scanner. Tomotherapy takes its name from the CT scan — computed tomography — capabilities.
South Miami Hospital is the first in South Florida to install the $2.8 million tomotherapy unit. Only about 20 have been installed nationwide since doctors began using the new technology last year.
“Tomotherapy lets us lock onto the exact shape and size of a tumor to deliver hundreds of pencil-thin beams of radiation from every direction,” said Steven Olszewski, M.D., medical director of South Miami Hospital’s Radiation Treatment Center. “With the built-in CT scanner, we can get real-time images of the cancer site without moving the patient. This lets us check the dose and sculpt the radiation before treatment to account for any changes in the tumor itself, or in the surrounding organs and healthy tissue.”
IMRT gives tomotherapy the capability of changing the intensity and shape of the radiation beams to precisely match the shape of the tumor. Traditional therapy uses wider beams of radiation projected at the tumor from a few different directions, while IMRT hits the tumor from every direction. But with IMRT alone, or traditional radiation therapy, patients need a separate appointment for a CT scan before treatment. Then permanent ink is used on the patient’s skin to mark the target for radiation therapy.
“Now, we can do the CT image at the time of treatment, which means no permanent external markers are needed to help us aim the radiation,” Dr. Olszewski said.
The improved accuracy helps prevent damage to normal tissue and reduces side effects. Just as with a CT scan, the patient reclines on a treatment table that moves through the doughnut-shaped tomotherapy unit.
Radiation therapy for cancer has gone through major advances in recent years. Baptist-South Miami Regional Cancer Program was one of the first in South Florida to introduce IMRT units in 2003. The radiation therapy centers at both Baptist and South Miami Hospitals use IMRT. Not all patients need tomotherapy.
IMRT and other types of radiation therapy such as high-dose brachytherapy may be better suited for some types of cancers, depending on the location, type, stage and previous treatment of the disease. Some patients may get a combination of IMRT and tomotherapy treatments.
Tomotherapy may be used on a variety of cancers, including prostate, breast, lung, brain, head and neck, bone and soft tissue, lymphomas and multiple myeloma. Treatment is generally given in daily doses, five days a week for about six weeks. However, tomotherapy can also be used to deliver a single dose of radiation (called radiosurgery) to destroy some types of tumors.
For more information about Tomotherapy, call our Radiation Oncology Department at 786-662-5333; toll-free 866-350-5588 or e-mail anim@baptisthealth.net