Treatment of Cancer: There are four standard methods of treatment for cancer chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy/biologic therapy. When initially diagnosed with cancer, a cancer specialist (called an oncologist) will provide the patient with cancer treatment options. He or she will recommend the best treatment plan based on the type of cancer, how far it has spread, and other important factors like age and general health.
Hemotherapy: Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses of drugs to eliminate cancer cells. Unlike surgery, chemotherapy affects the entire body, not just a specific part. It works by targeting rapidly multiplying cancer cells. Unfortunately, other types of cells in our bodies also multiply at high rates, like hair follicle cells and the cells that line our stomachs. This
is why chemo can cause side effects like hair loss and an upset stomach.
Chemotherapy is most commonly given by pill or intravenously (IV), but can be given in other ways. A single type of chemotherapy, or a combination of drugs, may be prescribed for a specific length of time. Like surgery, chemotherapy can be prescribed alone, in conjunction with radiation therapy or biologic therapy.
Radiation Therapy: Radiation therapy uses certain types of energy to shrink tumors or eliminate cancer cells. It works by damaging a cancer cell's DNA, making it unable to multiply. Cancer cells are highly sensitive to radiation and typically die when treated. Nearby healthy cells can be damaged as well, but are resilient and are able to fully recover. Radiation therapy may be given alone, along with chemotherapy, and/or with surgery. The decision to combine radiation therapy
with other types of treatment depends on the stage of cancer and other factors.
TomoTherapy or Helical TomoTherapy is a new way to deliver radiation treatment for cancer, and is the latest in radiation therapy delivery systems. TomoTherapy literally means "slice therapy," and gets its name from tomography, or cross-sectional imaging. The TomoTherapy Hi·Art System delivers a very sophisticated form of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), and combines treatment planning, CT image-guided patient positioning, and treatment delivery into one integrated system. The equipment used for TomoTherapy looks much like a CT scanner. The patient lies on a couch that moves continuously through a rotating ring gantry. The gantry houses a small megavoltage linear accelerator, which delivers radiation in the shape of a fan beam as the ring is turning. With the couch moving at the same time the gantry is rotating, the radiation beam makes a spiral (or helical) pattern around the patient, targeting tumors with optimal levels of radiation while minimizing the dose to healthy normal organs and tissues in the region.
The advantage of TomoTherapy is having a radiation treatment beam projected into the tumor continuously as it rotates, rather than having a limited number of fixed beams, each providing only a fraction of the dose necessary to irradiate the tumor. With the TomoTherapy Hi·Art System, it is now possible to adjust the size, shape, and intensity of the radiation beam to target the radiation to the size, shape, and location of the patient's tumor.
