University of Virginia Health System

U.VA. OFFERS NEW CANCER RADIATION TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY WITH FEWER SIDE-EFFECTS

The University of Virginia Health System Department of Radiation Oncology is offering a new cancer-fighting technology to improve radiation therapy treatment for cancer patients. The sophisticated new system will allow U.Va. to provide state-of-the-art Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), considered one of the most significant advances in the treatment of cancer in the last 30 years.

IMRT, a complete treatment-planning system, is able to shape radiation beams to the size, shape and location of a tumor, and match the radiation doses to the contour of the tumor while minimizing the impact on surrounding healthy tissue or organs. Focusing on the tumor and avoiding healthy tissue translates into a potentially higher cure rate, U.Va. radiation oncologists say, with fewer side effects.

Part of the IMRT is a method called inverse treatment planning, which uses high-speed computer systems to determine the optimal method for delivering a prescribed dose of radiation. A dose-calculation system, using specially designed and patented statistical techniques, more accurately determines the exact radiation dose being delivered to a tumor over the course of a treatment plan, allowing for continuing refinement of the radiation treatment.

IMRT allows high doses of radiation to be delivered to tumors with relative sparing of normal tissues, said Dr. Paul Read, radiation oncologist at the U.Va. Health System. This hopefully will allow us to eradicate tumor cells and spare normal cells, thus improving patients' quality of life. In addition, IMRT allows for retreating selected patients who couldn't otherwise receive additional radiation via conventional delivery methods.

The CORVUS® inverse treatment planning system U.Va. uses and the PEREGRINE® dose-calculation system were developed and manufactured by Pittsburgh-based NOMOS Corporation. To date, more than 12,000 patients have been treated with NOMOS technology at more than 90 treatment sites, worldwide.

The Department of Radiation Oncology has been serving the Central Virginia community for more than 40 years as a leader in bringing state-of-the-art cancer treatment technology to the citizens of the Commonwealth, said Dr. Maria Kelly, chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology at U.Va. We had the first linear accelerator in the state, the second gamma knife in the country, and one of the first multi-leaf collimators and dedicated CT simulators in the country. Our staff's expertise is in integrating this advanced technology into a personal approach to the management of each patient that meets their medical and psychosocial needs.

November 2, 2001