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Radiation therapy is the treatment of cancer and other diseases with radiation. Although radiation damages both cancer cells and normal cells, the latter are able to repair themselves and regain normal function.
The Eastchester Center for Cancer Care offers state-of-the-art radiation treatment, such as IGRT, IMRT and Radiosurgery, which allows higher doses of radiation because of the precision of this technology.
IGRT (Image Guided Radiation Therapy) combines scanning and radiation equipment, to provide images of the patient’s organs in the treatment position, at time of treatment, optimizing the accuracy and precision of the radiotherapy.
Tumors are not stationary, unchanging targets; they move between and during treatments. IGRT uses daily CT scanning to create three-dimensional images that pinpoint the exact size, location and coordinates of the tumor.
In the past, oncologists have had to compensate for tumor movements by making the radiation beam larger, exposing a significant volume of healthy tissue to radiation. With IGRT we capture CT images on a daily basis, pinpointing the position of the cancer and normal tissue structures just prior to treatment.
This technique significantly reduces the rate of normal tissue complications. For example, in the treatment of Prostate Cancer, radiation can be focused to minimize exposure to the rectum, and bladder. Additionally, the radiation dose to the penile bulb can be minimized for potency preservation.
Having the ability to hone in on the tumor immediately prior to treatment offers a more effective treatment to a variety of cancers including Head & Neck, Lung, Breast and Pelvic tumors.
IMRT (Intesnsity Modulated Radiation Therapy) focuses radiation precisely to the shape and location of the tumor, and is able to control the intensity of the radiation within the tumor site. Because of this precision, the tumor receives a higher dose of radiation, while exposure to surrounding healthy tissue is limited. This offers a tremendous advantage over conventional radiation treatment.
Radiation therapy can treat localized solid tumors, such as cancers of the skin, tongue, larynx, brain, breast, or uterine cervix. It can also be used to treat leukemia and lymphoma.
Specialized forms of radiation therapy, such as stereotactic radiosurgery, which provides effective cancer treatment for brain cancer, and brachytherapy, also know as seed implantation, which is considered the state-of-the-art radiation treatment for prostate cancer, are also available at Eastchester Center for Cancer Care.
Patients may receive radiation treatment alone, such as for prostate or larynx cancer, or as part of a patient's cancer treatment plan. For example, a woman may have radiation therapy after breast cancer surgery.
At the Eastchester Center for Cancer Care in the Bronx, our board certified physicians employ a variety of cancer care options to help cure cancer and relieve a patient's pain
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