Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancers using VMAT
Our head and neck cancer specialists treat cancers with radiation therapy, using high-energy X-rays to eliminate cancer cells. The goal of radiation therapy is to accurately and aggressively treat a cancerous tumor while limiting damage to nearby tissues. Our experienced physicians have a full menu of state-of-the-art radiation therapy options to do just that.
A high level of personalization in treatment is critical to success, especially for complicated cancers of the head, neck and skull base. Precision techniques such as these allow us to tailor treatment approaches to each patient’s needs.
Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy
In volumetric modulated arc radiation therapy (VMAT), radiation specialists use a single high-energy X-ray beam or multiple high beams to deliver precise radiation therapy in an uninterrupted arc around the patient. During treatment delivery, the intensity or strength of the radiation beam is modulated or varied, allowing the physician to accurately aim the highest dose at the tumor while reducing the dose to nearby tissues or structures. Avoiding nearby tissue means that many side effects of radiation can be minimized or eliminated.
Treating in a continuous arc allows a dramatic reduction in the time a patient spends on the treatment table.
Three dimensional (3D) imaging technology is integrated into our treatment system, allowing our head and neck radiation oncologists to visualize the tumor at the time of treatment and make any adjustments just prior to delivering the daily treatment.
The result is a personalized radiation treatment plan that is highly accurate and delivered in a quick and efficient manner for patient comfort.
Radixact System
Radixact combines the benefits and functionality of a CT scanner with “intensity modulation” of radiation beams to accurately and precisely treat often irregularly shaped tumors. This treatment system increases the number of angles at which the radiation dose enters the body. It breaks the radiation beam into angles covering 360 degrees. Each angle can be tailored to deliver more or less of the radiation depending on the location of the tumor, allowing a much more precise delivery.
The patient moves slowly through the opening in the treatment machine (shaped like a CT scanner) as the treatment is delivered. Just before each treatment is delivered, a physician acquires a CT image of the patient in the treatment position to confirm the shape and position of the tumor. By getting a current image of the tumor — right before treatment — the approach ensures that the radiation is accurately delivered while avoiding healthy tissue and organs.
Gamma Knife (Stereotactic Radiosurgery)
Gamma Knife® is a non-surgical alternative to traditional open brain surgery. Contrary to what the name suggests, no knife or blade is involved, although the treatment, in most cases, mimics what can be achieved with traditional surgery without the requisite operative risks and recovery time.
The Gamma Knife machine uses up to 201 precise beamlets of radiation therapy to destroy tumors in the brain and skull base (malignant or benign; in some cases non-tumor lesions, such as vascular malformations among others).
Our radiation oncologists plan the Gamma Knife treatment using a combination of a patient’s CT and MRI scans which are registered in a three-dimensional grid. They identify and outline the exact size, shape and location of the tumor(s) and create a radiation treatment plan. The machine then delivers a highly concentrated radiation dose to the tumor while delivering very little radiation to surrounding healthy tissue.
MR-Linac — Magnetic Resonance Radiation Therapy (MR/RT)
The Elekta MR-linac, a high-field MR-guided linear accelerator, will be the world’s first radiation therapy technology to combine an MRI scanner with a linear accelerator in a single system. We are one of seven institutions in the world to test this new technology.
This machine combines the superior imaging quality of an MRI scanner with a state of the art radiation therapy delivery platform. MRI scans offer a significant advantage over traditional CT scans. It provides far better resolution of the soft tissues of the body without delivering an additional radiation dose. This platform allows continuous imaging with MR during radiation treatments enabling radiologists to monitor and modify treatments for even minor changes in body shape or position.
SRT-100 — Superficial Radiation Therapy
Superficial radiation therapy allows delivery of high doses of radiation therapy to superficial targets such as localized skin cancers known as squamous cell carcinomas or basal cells carcinomas. These are often found on the skin of the face, head or neck and are mainly related to sun exposure. With this treatment there is little to no internal scattering of the radiation therapy dose. It does not involve anesthesia, cutting or need for reconstructive plastic surgery. Treatments are short, painless, and patients heal quickly following their course of treatment.
Head and Neck Cancer Radiation Therapy
A radiation oncologist, explains why it is essential to personalize head and neck radiation therapy based on the location and size of a patient’s tumor.
Radiation treatment is the ultimate in personalized medicine- especially to head and neck. Every patient has a different tumor with a different tumor size, near different critical structures and critical organs. Managing and personalizing the radiation treatment to that patient has to balance between tumor control and toxicity.
We take painstaking process to adequately define the tumor and the organs surrounding that tumor, and we develop a complex radiation plan to optimally do that. For each individual patient, I have to weigh the risks and balances of that process. In doing so, I create a plan that’s really customized for them and their particular anatomy and tumor.
When we deliver radiation treatment, we want to ensure that we give you just enough radiation to cure your cancer and give the best chance of tumor control; while not giving any more than that, so that we don’t cause excess toxicity.
Working that balance and understanding where the radiation is delivered and where it’s not being delivered is important to optimize cancer control and give you the best quality of life after treatment.