Qld cancer patients get new radiation treatment option

An advanced form of radiation therapy is now available through the public health system in Queensland.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) eliminates many of the side effects associated with traditional radiation treatment and is improving the quality of life of many cancer patients.

Tim Olsen, 15, from Gladstone in central Queensland had a melanoma removed from the inside of his eye about six months ago.

When the cancer spread to his neck, doctors recommended IMRT which specifically targets tumours, reducing the damage to healthy tissue.

Radiation Therapy Services director Simon McQuitty says the technology more effectively targets cancer treatment.

read more at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/07/2619148.htm

Rapid Radiation

Undergoing radiation therapy can be a weary process for cancer patients.

There are daily, weekday trips to therapy for six to eight weeks. Patients can become fatigued and often have to cope with side effects of treatment.

During visits, they must lie perfectly still inside a linear accelerator that directs beams of radiation to zap tumors. The treatment typically takes about 20 minutes plus time for radiation therapists to set up everything.

Now new technology called RapidArc is reducing treatment to about 5 minutes or less. St. Dominic Hospital has offered it since April.

"This was for patient comfort," said Mechale Mayfield, St. Dominic Cancer Center director. For now, St. Dominic treats cancers of the prostate and pelvis areas with RapidArc. By the end of the summer, it will treat head and neck cancers and eventually will treat lung and breast cancers with RapidArc.

"With any treatment modality, we kind of start out with one area and perfect it, then move on to others," Mayfield said.

Varian Medical Systems developed RapidArc, an advanced form of image-guided, intensity-modulated, radiation therapy. It treats tumors the same way, only faster and without exposing as much healthy tissue to radiation.

Radiation breaks down healthy tissue, Mayfield explained. "That's why through the years radiation has gone to treating more than just straight on or four different areas. Sometimes we treat nine different areas," she said.

With the conventional method, the radiation beams start and stop as they circle a patient's body to adjust and readjust to angles.

RapidArc "modulates actual beams so it is shaped exactly like the tumor and as it rotates around the body it changes. Well, actually the machine adjusts to the shape (of the tumor) as it moves," Mayfield said. "It is unbelievable to see."

William Cannon, 72, of Brandon is one of the first prostate cancer patients at St. Dominic to experience RapidArc. He's had 22 treatments with the conventional method and 11 treatments with RapidArc.

Before the faster treatments became available, his wife would do a crossword puzzle to pass time in the waiting area. Not any more.

"Well, she only got two answers, and here I was coming out," Cannon said laughing.

"Before they would do it in 10 stages if you will. I think I counted. They'd shoot me, move it a little. Shoot me, move it a little. Shoot me. It moved around the body."

RapidArc eliminates the starting and stopping and provides radiation continuously. Cannon said his time on the table is cut in half, and it now takes longer to set up the machine than to receive treatment. His treatments last about 2 minutes.

"It's fine. It doesn't hurt a bit. This is faster," he said.

Cannon was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006 and had laparoscopic surgery to treat it.

Cancer runs in his family. His mother and older sister both had breast cancer. But he recalls his sister developing something like a rash after her treatment.

"I haven't had anything like that," Cannon said.

"That's because you were able to spare the tissue - the actual skin on the outside of the body," Mayfield said.

Earlier this year a PSA - prostate-specific antigen - screening showed elevated levels in Cannon's blood.

PSA screenings catch cancer early, which helped to ensure Cannon was a good candidate for RapidArc treatment. All cancer patients are not.

"It depends on the physician's discretion," said Veeresh Michael, medical physicist at the Cancer Center. "Certain stages (of cancer) and sizes (of tumors) are not beneficial."

Michael's job is to ensure treatment plans for the eight to 10 prostate cancer patients eligible for RapidArc are carried out per physicians' orders. He also monitors overall quality control of the system.

He agrees patient comfort is a plus with RapidArc and adds that not having to lie down for long periods during treatment yields better results.

"It's a hard flat table and uncomfortable for a lot of patients. They must lie still. A lot of patients wiggle around and their treatment can be compromised."

Faster treatment also allows for improved flexibility with appointment schedules.

"Before this new technology, we could only treat a small number of patients in specific time slots," Mayfield said.

RapidArc treatment doesn't cost patients more, and it's usually covered by insurance.

Cannon, who stays active by walking with his wife after leaving the center, just appreciates the ease of treatment overall.

"I've always heard of people taking radiation therapy. 'Oh my gosh. What is this?' Well it's nothing so far as I'm concerned."

What are the side effects of radiation?

The side effects often depend on the area of the body which is being irradiated, as well as the over-all time frame of the treatment, and the dose given at each treatment. Patients often try to compare side effects of their treatment in the waiting room, however they are not aware that they may be receiving very different treatments even if ostensibly for the same conditions. No two patients are exactly alike and therefore the treatment must be tailored to their particular constellation of disease stage, location, age, and multiple other associated factors. Common side effects of radiation therapy could include skin dryness and peeling, sometimes even redness, like you might get with a bad sunburn. Often the patients feel tired or listless. Blood counts may go down especially if chemotherapy is also being given or if a large area is being treated. However, some patients breeze through the treatment with few if any side effects. An informed consent listing all the possible side effects should be discussed with you and your family if they are present prior to starting treatment. Each week during radiotherapy treatment, you will see the physician in order to voice any of your concerns. At these weekly visits, the physician can also tell you about the progress of treatment and recommend any treatment for side-effects that you may be experiencing. These weekly visits are VERY important and the patients should not miss them if they can help it.

read more at http://www.cancersupportivecare.com/radiationfaq.html

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy, also called radiation therapy, is the treatment of cancer and other diseases with ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation deposits energy that injures or destroys cells in the area being treated (the "target tissue") by damaging their genetic material, making it impossible for these cells to continue to grow. Although radiation damages both cancer cells and normal cells, the latter are able to repair themselves and function properly. Radiotherapy may be used to 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 (cancers of the blood-forming cells and lymphatic system, respectively).
One type of radiation therapy commonly used involves photons, "packets" of energy. X-rays were the first form of photon radiation to be used to treat cancer. Depending on the amount of energy they possess, the rays can be used to destroy cancer cells on the surface of or deeper in the body. The higher the energy of the x-ray beam, the deeper the x-rays can go into the target tissue. Linear accelerators and betatrons are machines that produce x-rays of increasingly greater energy. The use of machines to focus radiation (such as x-rays) on a cancer site is called external beam radiotherapy.

read more at http://www.meds.com/pdq/radio.html

Treatment Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy uses precisely targeted high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. It does this by damaging a cell's internal components (molecules), causing the cells to commit suicide by apoptosis. When a high-energy ray hits a molecule, it can cause it to break up. This can form free radicals, which can cause further damage to the inside of the cell.

read more at http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerandresearch/learnaboutcancer/treatment/radiotherapy/?a=5441