Types of Radiation Therapy

Our facility is the first in the State of Colorado to install state-of-the-art equipment that offers superficial skin radiation treatment for skin cancer patients with a new, non-invasive, non-Moh’s, non-surgical option to curatively treat basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. This new modality is especially useful and effective for head, neck and face skin cancers because there are no surgical scars (no scalpels and no needles) as a result of treatment or needed for treatment. This treatment is effectively limited to the thickness of the skin and focused directly to the cancerous spot(s). Treatment can be administered in as little as two days per week for 8 treatments total and is 95% — 98% effective. The actual treatment sessions last a minute or less.

While the national skin cancer diagnosis rate is annually estimated to be 2.5 times greater than all other cancers, there are between 10% and 20% of these patients with pre-existing conditions that are not conducive to an invasive procedure. Many patients who have had one or more Moh’s surgeries may prefer a non-surgical option.

SRS, or stereotactic radiosurgery, is a technique that is most commonly used for tumors in the brain or spinal column. Unlike IMRT, SRS is typically delivered in a maximum of 5 sessions. Despite the use of the word “surgery” in its name, it does not involve removing the tumor with a surgical blade. Instead, a focused high-intensity beam of radiation is used to target the tumor.

Form of SRS utilized is HyperArc

• This is used for cases where there are multiple lesions within the brain. “HyperArc uses all degrees of freedom to deliver orchestrated dynamic movements of the gantry and couch for taking optimal advantage of non-coplanar beams. This automated approach allows for extremely complex treatments to be delivered more rapidly and more cost effective. It shows significant improvement in both the dose coverage to the targeted tumor and an associated reduction in the dose to the organs at risk.

SBRT, or stereotactic body radiation therapy, is used to target sites located throughout the body. SBRT is most commonly used for targets in the lung, liver, brain, pancreas and kidney, and is typically delivered in a maximum of 5 sessions.

IMRT, or intensity modulated radiation therapy, is an advanced mode of high-precision radiation therapy. This treatment technique uses computer-controlled linear accelerators to deliver precise radiation doses to the tumor. IMRT allows for the radiation dose to conform more precisely to the three-dimensional (3-D) shape of the tumor by modulating (controlling) the intensity of the radiation beam. Radiation doses are focused on the tumor while minimizing the dose to surrounding normal critical structures. IMRT treatments are typically delivered daily for 10-20 minutes over a 4-6 week time period.

VMAT, or volumetric arc therapy (RapidArc), is a treatment technique that delivers the radiation dose continuously as the treatment machine rotates around the patient. This technique accurately shapes the radiation dose to the tumor while minimizing the dose to the organs surrounding the tumor. VMAT uses special software and an advanced linear accelerator to deliver treatments quickly and accurately. VMAT works similarly to intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in the way the radiation dose is varied throughout treatment. Compared to conventional radiation treatments where the linac makes repeated stops to treat the tumor from a number of different angles, VMAT, the treatment can be delivered to the entire tumor in a single, brief, smooth rotation (arc) of the linear accelerator around the patient.

IGRT, or image-guided radiation therapy uses sophisticated computer software to analyze a series of image scans to create a detailed, three-dimensional picture of the tumor, or target, and the surrounding tissues. The scans typically are produced by computed tomography (CT scan), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or positron emission tomography (PET scan).

This is used for internal radiation treatment where an applicator is placed in the patient and a radiation source (Ir192) is positioned within the applicator to deliver a high dose of radiation treatment directly to the internal structure or cavity created such as a lumpectomy site. The most common uses of HDR brachytherapy are for treatment of breast cancer and gynecological cases but may be used for other body sites as well.

Delivered through the bloodstream or orally through ingestion to treat cancerous cells with minimal damage to the normal surrounding tissue.

• Therapies Offered
  • Lutathera (Lu-Dotatate-177) - used in the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors. A neuroendocrine tumour (NET) is a tumour that develops from cells of the neuroendocrine system. Neuroendocrine cells are found throughout the body, in organs such as the stomach, bowel and lungs.
  • Xofigo (Radium-223) - used in the treatment of patients with prostate cancer that has spread to the bones. Xofigo is absorbed by the bone, allowing for allowing for radiation to be deposited directly at the area of painful bone metastases from your prostate cancer.
  • Zevalin (Yttrium-90) - used to treat adult patients with relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) or those previously untreated follicular NHL who achieve a partial or complete response to first-line chemotherapy.
  • SIR-Spheres® (Yttrium-90) - used for the treatment of stage IV colon cancer that has spread to the liver and can’t be surgically removed.