Cancer Treatment Options – Brachytherapy

Brachytherapy (also sometimes called ‘seed implementation’) is a short course of radiation therapy, delivered to the patient in a controlled environment over a short period of time, usually a few days.  It is most typically used in treatment for breast cancer, gynecologic cancers, and prostate cancer.

In brachytherapy, radioactive “seeds” are carefully placed inside of the cancerous tissue, and positioned in a manner that most efficiently attacks the cancer.  There are two different kinds of brachytherapy: permanent, and temporary.  With permanent implants, many times used in the treatment of prostate cancer, the radioactivity of the seeds decays with time, while the actual seeds permanently stay within the treatment area. Temporary implants, typically used with many gynecologic cancers, are placed inside the body, and then removed after a period of time.

Brachytherapy has now been used for more than a century, and has been proven to be very effective and safe.  Many times, it is a good alternative to the surgical removal of the prostate, breast, and cervix, while at the same time, reducing the risk of certain long-term side effects.

For additional information visit the American Brachytherapy Society.
 
Cancer Treatment Options – IMRT

IMRT (often referred to as ‘IMRT radiation therapy’) is a state-of-the-art cancer treatment method that delivers doses of radiation directly to cancer cells in a very targeted way, much more precisely than is possible with conventional radiotherapy.  IMRT can be used to treat tumors that might have been considered untreatable in the past due to close proximity of vital organs and structures.

With IMRT, the radiation dose is designed to conform to the three-dimensional (3-D) shape of the tumor by modulating – or controlling – the intensity of the radiation beam to focus a higher radiation dose on the tumor, while minimizing radiation exposure to surrounding normal tissues. Treatment is carefully planned by using 3-D computed tomography (CT) images of the patient, in conjunction with computerized dose calculations, to determine the dose intensity pattern that will best conform to the tumor shape.

IMRT is being used to treat a variety of cancers.  IMRT can be used as part of a treatment plan for patients with prostate cancer, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, gynecologic cancers, brain tumors, and lymphomas.  Shaw Regional Cancer Center is currently the only center in the Central Rocky Mountain region with the technology and expertise to deliver IMRT.  Our medical team specializes in cutting age technology for treating cancer through radiation therapy. 

For additional information visit RadiologyInfo.

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