News

Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT)

IGRT and its three-dimensional imaging system is one of the most sophisticated and advanced radiation therapy techniques available. Not only does IGRT enable your physician to pinpoint and "see" malignant tumors during treatment, this technology allows for improved accuracy and precise focus of the radiation beam, thereby sparing more of the healthy surrounding tissue and vital organs.

One challenge with conventional radiation treatment options has been to give a high enough dose of radiation to the tumor to be effective, while trying to protect as much of the surrounding healthy tissue as possible. Another challenge has been to accurately target the tumor. Patients and their organs move, and that means the tumor moves. The current method of locating a tumor uses CT scans before treatment. But because that location may move during the weeks of treatment, more of the surrounding healthy tissue is at risk and subject to radiation. IGRT takes into account variations in body and internal organ movement before and during treatment, helping doctors precisely locate tumors. The benefits of IGRT include:

• Safely delivering higher, more effective doses of radiation
• Offering new hope to patients with what were considered "untreatable" tumors
• Helping to protect surrounding tissue
• Shortening the overall treatment period
• Reducing side effects and improving the patient's quality of life

Gamma Knife® - Brain Surgery without a Scalpel

Gamma Knife technology utilizes cobalt radiation to treat many disorders of the brain without ever making an incision or harming brain tissue.

The Gamma Knife, which focuses 201 tiny beams of radiation on one focal point within the brain, is considered the "gold standard of care" for non-invasive treatment of many types of brain tumors (even some that were considered inoperable), vascular malformations, and neurological disorders. The typical treatment consists of a single four-hour session. Patients do not lose their hair, there is almost no pain or side effects, and most patients return to normal activity within 48 hours.

South Sound Gamma Knife, led by Dr. Michael McDonough, is the only Gamma Knife treatment facility between Seattle and Portland. To learn more about this technology and the Gamma Team, visit the South Sound Gamma Knife Web site.

Tacoma / Valley Radiation Oncology Centers Expands Treatment Options with MammoSite Radiation Therapy System

Women with early-stage breast cancer who have had a lumpectomy may be candidates for the MammoSite Radiation Therapy System. This system delivers radiation from inside the breast directly to the tissue where cancer is most likely to recur. Whereas a lumpectomy is traditionally followed by seven weeks of whole breast external beam radiation therapy, radiation therapy with MammoSite can be completed in just five days.

The MammoSite is intended to provide brachytherapy when your physician chooses to deliver intracavitary radiation to the surgical margins following lumpectomy for breast cancer. Mammosite may be prescribed for primary radiation therapy, or for a boost in conjunction with external beam radiation.

Some benefits of MammoSite:

• Radiation therapy can be completed in five days.
• MammoSite places the radiation source inside the lumpectomy cavity to deliver radiation therapy to the area where cancer is most likely to recur.
• The amount of radiation to healthy tissue is limited.
• The therapy is given on an outpatient basis.
• Cosmetic results are good.

Talk to your physician to find out if you are a candidate for the MammoSite Radiation Therapy System.

Our New Digs

Tacoma/Valley Radiation Oncology Centers has opened a new, state-of-the-art facility at Good Samaritan Cancer Center in Puyallup for our patients who live outside the Tacoma metropolitan area.

You are welcome to stop by and visit our new facility, talk to the staff, and view the beautiful nature photography taken by one of our own staff members.

Click here for directions.