You or a close relative has just been diagnosed with cancer and radiation therapy has been recommended by your doctor. Maybe you’ve read that the best radiation therapy treatment is IMRT. So, exactly what is IMRT?
IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) is an advanced mode of high precision radiotherapy designed to treat cancer with a very precise radiation dose. The beam is designed to conform to the shape of the tumor or area of treatment allowing physicians to safely deliver higher and more effective radiation doses while simultaneously reducing the radiation dose to healthy surrounding tissue.
IMRT has many advantages making it a recommended technology of radiation therapy. Since the beam is designed to conform to the shape of the tumor it makes it easier for the physician to control the intensity of the radiation beam. Controlling the beam’s intensity produces a custom-tailored radiation dose specifically for you and your particular cancer. Because it is custom-tailored, it minimizes the radiation exposure to the surrounding normal tissues lowering side effects. Due to this protection of the surrounding normal tissue, IMRT allows for the Radiation Oncologist to maximize the treatment by focusing a higher radiation dose to the tumor. Because we are able to subject the tumor to higher doses, we are experiencing higher cure rates than before the advent of IMRT.
IMRT treatment is not recommended for all types of cancer. The radiation oncologist considers many factors in determining whether IMRT is the most effective method of treatment for your disease. Some of the factors considered are the type of cancer, the location of the tumor and whether it has spread. It is always best to discuss the preferred method of treatment with your radiation oncologist.
At Providence Holy Cross Cancer Center we have friendly doctors and staff members who can help answer all of your questions.
For more information, please call 661-288-5965 or 818-898-4410 and we can help you with any decisions you need to make regarding yours or your family member’s cancer diagnosis.