TomoTherapy

Attacking Cancer From Every Angle

As one of only a handful in the nation to offer TomoTherapy®, Goshen Center for Cancer Care can now treat tumors that were once untreatable. Unlike conventional radiation therapies that deliver wide radiation beams from three to seven different positions, TomoTherapy uses small, focused radiation beams directed at the tumor from thousands of positions. This allows our highly skilled physicians to see the exact location, shape and size of the tumor, and with 3D imaging, precisely map the location and dimensions of a tumor.

One of the most exciting and sought-after treatments in recent years, TomoTherapy combines the advanced form of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with the accuracy of CT scanning technology to accurately pinpoint cancerous masses and deliver optimal doses of photon radiation directly to the tumor. No cancer is too complicated for TomoTherapy, because this new generation of radiation can treat multiple cancerous masses simultaneously and effectively, and from many angles.

For those who have already had a course of radiation treatment, and been told that they cannot have further treatment because the damage to healthy tissue would outweigh the benefits of controlling the tumor, TomoTherapy is now an option.

Benefits

• Minimizes radiation to healthy, sensitive tissue and organs surrounding the prostate, such as seminal vesicles, bladder and rectum
• Causes fewer side effects, helping reduce the incidence of incontinence and erectile
dysfunction
• Requires fewer treatment visits due to precise, larger doses
• Improves patient outcomes due to accuracy
• Delivers painless and precise radiation to tumor
• Uses high energy X-ray beam for clearer images
• Allows adjustments to deliver correct dosing at each treatment
• Treats tumors that were once untreatable because of location or previous radiation

How It Works

Targeting prostate cancer tumors can be a challenge, as they can shift position from one day to the next, or even by the hour. That’s why each TomoTherapy session begins with a 3D, CT scan to precisely map the shape, size and location of each tumor. After patients are thoroughly scanned, they pass through the TomoTherapy unit a second time. Rotating radiation beams, each varying in intensity, then attack the tumor from 360 degrees instead of just a half-dozen angles. The high radiation dose is sculpted to fit the exact shape of the patient’s tumor, and can treat both large tumors and multiple sites, with such accuracy that nearby organs and healthy tissues remain undamaged.