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Treatment Options IMRT

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) utilizes a highly precise radiation system to deliver carefully calculated beams of intense radiation directly into a cancer. IMRT was pioneered at prominent research institutes such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York City and Stanford University in California. IMRT is also available at Radiation Oncology Associates in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Successful IMRT depends on specialized equipment and on a highly trained team of physicians, physicists, and technologists. Radiation Oncology Associates has developed a team of specialists who incorporate a patient's unique and complex data into the IMRT computer and create an ideal treatment plan. Computer-generated imaging of the exact location of the tumor within the patient allows the oncology team to design and calibrate the radiation therapy beam. The beam is uniquely shaped by the linear accelerator and the painless procedure is repeated in a series of outpatient visits, enabling patients to return to the privacy of their own homes after each treatment.

The accuracy of the IMRT beam has the advantage of maximizing the dose of radiation to the cancerous tumor while sparing the surrounding healthy tissues from unnecessary exposure. IMRT technology is so advanced that it can be programmed to actually wrap and angle beams of radiation around normal tissue and organs, protecting "good cells" as it destroys the tumor. IMRT patients typically experience fewer side effects, which helps them to remain stronger and to lead a more normal lifestyle during treatment. Patients with prostate cancer are able to benefit from the higher dose to the cancer while having a lower dose to the bladder and rectum. By lowering the dose to the pelvic nerves and blood vessels, IMRT may produce fewer effects on sexual potency.

Breast cancer is another disease that may be more safely cured with IMRT. Specifically, cancers of the left breast aim the beams away from the heart and lung while at the same time administer a high dose to the breast to maximize the likelihood of cure.

For certain brain tumors and cancers of the mouth and throat, IMRT may the best way deliver radiation. The IMRT program at Radiation Oncology Associates is being utilized successfully in all of these types of cancers. We are proud to be among the leading institutions bringing this life-saving technology to cancer patients in New Mexico.