TREATMENT
At the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital, we offer the most advanced technologies available in medicine today, including Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT), together with the medical expertise of Yale Therapeutic Radiology, one of the largest and most well respected groups of radiation oncologists in the region.
Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with Image-Guided Radiation therapy (IGRT)
When External Beam Radiation Therapy (RT) is recommended to treat localized prostate cancer, the combination of IMRT with IGRT is the most advanced and patient-centered treatment option available. This highly precise technology intricately maps the prostate to safely allow for more effective doses of radiation to be accurately delivered to the cancer while minimizing radiation to normal tissues including the rectum, bladder or bowel.
How Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) Works
IMRT technology provides optimally precise radiation therapy to the prostate while effectively limiting any adverse effects to surrounding normal structures such as the rectum, bladder or bowel. To achieve this high level of safety, IMRT varies the intensity of radiation beams, allowing stronger doses to reach specific areas of the tumor. The varying intensity can be generated by adjusting the opening of the RT beam (collimator) with a fixed gantry position or by changing the beam opening during an arc.
Treatments are delivered over 5-8 weeks either using standard doses of radiation or hypofractionated doses in which the total dose of radiation is divided into large doses and treatments are given once a day or less often.
How Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) Works
IGRT provides an accurate location of your prostate during treatment. This technology is vitally important to prostate cancer radiation therapy because the prostate gland can vary in position due variations in the size of the bladder and rectum. This technology tracks the location of the prostate and the surrounding organs before each radiation dose is delivered.
Hydrogel
To enhance patient safety, Space OARTM Hydrogel, a soft gel material, can be used to temporarily create a space between the prostate and rectum. This greatly minimizes any potential short-or long-term side effects caused radiation. A urologist can place the gel during an outpatient procedure.