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LONG BRANCH, NJ, September 11, 2006 — Treating
cancer like a moving target is the premise behind the latest breakthrough
in radiotherapy recently unveiled at the Leon Hess Cancer Center
at Monmouth Medical Center.
The introduction of image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) at Monmouth’s
Institute for Advanced Radiation Oncology allows for the pinpoint
targeting of cancerous cells, despite tumor motion caused by a
patient’s breathing, movement or positioning during treatment.
“The problem of a tumor moving over a four- to six-week course
of daily radiation treatments has been an obstacle in effectively
targeting cancer treatment — until now,” says Mitchell
Weiss, M.D., chairman of radiation oncology at the Leon Hess Cancer
Center at Monmouth Medical Center, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas
Health Care System. “IGRT represents the next phase of oncology
care in our specialty, as it allows us, through image guidance,
to watch the tumor move as a patient breathes, and target it much
more accurately than ever before.”
What specifically sets this state-of-the-art method of conformal
radiotherapy apart from other less advanced forms is its unparalleled
ability to generate “cone-beam” or 3-D images of the
tumor site immediately before treatment.
By allowing radiation oncologists to “see before they treat,” cancerous
cells are targeted precisely and accurately in real time without
doing much harm to surrounding normal tissue and with the lowest
possible radiation dose.
IGRT allows physicians to use functional images from positron emission
tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed
tomography (CT) scanning to identify the target in a much more
accurate way, according to Dr. Weiss. “And now with cone-beam
technology, we can actually track tumor motion and its location
in the body, and adapt the treatment accordingly,” he explains.
Marking the latest step in Monmouth Medical Center’s ongoing
advancement of 3-D conformal radiotherapy, IGRT with cone-beam
technology will be used to treat a host of cancers, including breast,
prostate, lung, colon and rectal and head and neck.
Monmouth Medical Center marked a milestone in radiation therapy
in 2003 when it became the first hospital on the East Coast to
treat a patient with the Oncor Avant-Garde Linear Accelerator,
technology offering the most-sophisticated computer-guided planning
capabilities available and ultimately served as the springboard
for the introduction of IGRT in 2004 and, most recently, with its
cone-beam targeting capabilities.
Jack Yang, Ph.D., chief physicist for Monmouth’s Institute
for Advanced Radiation Oncology, further explains that the “cone-beam” technique
allows for an entire 3-D volume to be imaged with just one Linac
rotation. “Much like a global tracking system, this system
allows us to pinpoint the targeted area, delivering radiation only
to the precise area of the tumor and sparing healthy adjacent tissue,” he
adds.
For the past eight years, Monmouth has served as an intensity modulated
radiation therapy (IMRT) “elite model site” for Siemens
Medical Solutions, the Malvern, Pa.-based health care supplier
that developed the Oncor system to integrate many leading-edge
technologies. As a result of this status, it has hosted more than
300 site visits over the last several years, welcoming radiation
oncologists, medical physicists and other cancer specialists from
throughout the world to explore the process and benefits of establishing
an IMRT practice in a community hospital.
Gaining international, national and state recognition for its clinical
research into advanced methods of radiation therapy in recent years,
the Institute for Advanced Radiation Oncology’s achievements
paved the way for Monmouth Medical Center to become the first hospital
in Monmouth County to earn accreditation from the American College
of Radiation Oncology for the quality, safety and appropriateness
of its radiation therapy.
Free tours of Monmouth Medical Center’s Institute for Advanced
Radiation Oncology for the general public are offered the second
Friday of each month from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. For more information
on IGRT or to register for a tour, call 732-923-6890.
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