Gibbs Cancer Center offers the area's only radiation oncology program, which uses high-dosage energy in treating specific cancerous sites. This department is led by four board-certified radiation oncologists, who develop treatment plans and work in partnership with physicists and radiation therapists to deliver safe, effective radiation therapy. These specialists administer and monitor radiation through state-of-the-art equipment such as dual-energy linear accelerators and high-dose rate after loaders.

Radiation therapy uses penetrating beams of radiant energy, or photons (small bundles of energy), to treat cancer. Because cancer cells often grow and divide more rapidly than normal cells, they are more likely to be killed or damaged by radiation than normal cells. With improvements in technology, radiation treatment has become increasingly more focused, allowing for the delivery of higher doses to tumors while at the same time decreasing the amount of radiation to surrounding healthy organs and tissues.

In some cases, the goal of radiation treatment is the complete destruction of an entire tumor. In other cases, the aim is to shrink a tumor and relieve symptoms. In either case, doctors plan treatment to spare as much healthy tissue as possible.

About half of all cancer patients receive some type of radiation therapy. Radiation therapy may be used alone or in combination with other cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy or surgery. In some cases, a patient may receive more than one type of radiation therapy.

Your doctor and nurse are the best people to talk to you about your treatment, side effects, home care, and any other medical concerns you may have. Tell them about any side effects you are having, including skin changes, tiredness (fatigue), diarrhea, or trouble eating. Be sure that you understand any home care instructions and know who to contact if you have more questions.

Side effects vary from patient to patient and will depend on the radiation dose and the part of your body treated. Some patients have no side effects at all, while others have quite a few. There is no way to know who might or might not have side effects. Your overall health can sometimes affect how your body reacts to radiation treatment and whether you have side effects.

Radiation therapy can cause early and late side effects. Early side effects are those that happen during or shortly after treatment. They usually are gone within a few weeks after treatment. Late side effects are those that take months or years to develop. They are often permanent.

The most common early side effects are:

• fatigue (feeling tired)
• skin changes
• Other early side effects usually are related to the area being treated, such as hair loss and mouth problems following radiation treatment to the head.

Most side effects go away in time. In the meantime, there are ways to reduce the discomfort they may cause. If you have bad side effects, the doctor may stop your treatments for a while, change the schedule, or change the type of treatment you are getting. Tell your doctor, nurse, or radiation therapist about any side effects you notice so they can help you manage them. The information here can serve as a guide to handling some side effects, but it cannot replace talking with your doctor or nurse about what is happening to you.

The TomoTherapy HI-ART® System is a revolutionary way to treat cancer with radiation. With TomoTherapy, your physician can check the location of your tumor before each treatment, then deliver painless and precise radiation therapy based on a carefully customized plan. TomoTherapy combines precise 3-D imaging from computerized tomography (CT scanning) with highly targeted radiation beams.

The TomoTherapy HI-ART System was designed to advance the goals of precise treatment while reducing complexity. It combines treatment planning, patient positioning (TomoImaging), and treatment delivery into one, integrated radiation system.

The HI-ART System features a patented Multi-Leaf Collimator and a rotating, helical beam that precisely delivers the planned dose in order to minimize damage to healthy tissues. The TomoTherapy HI-ART System can be used to treat prostate, head and neck, and other cancers.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy shapes, or modulates, the intensity of radiation aimed at cancer cells deep within the body. Using IMRT, healthcare professionals at Gibbs Cancer Center can fashion a healing beam of radiation to match the precise shape of a cancerous tumor and treat it from the outside in. They can hit the cancer cells with the strongest possible dose of radiation, without causing collateral damage to the healthy body tissue surrounding the tumor.

This means fewer side effects, fewer complications and higher cure rates for patients.

Gibbs Cancer Center was one of the first in South Carolina to treat patients with IMRT. Since 2002, Gibbs Regional Cancer Center has treated nearly 400 patients using this new therapy. That kind of experience is a major asset for a treatment demanding a very high level of expertise.

The treatment is a four-step process:

1. First, CT, MRI and PET scans measure and create a precise, three-dimensional computer image of the tumor and the tissues surrounding it.Information from each type of image can be combined into one image, so the different tissues are more easily distinguished.
2. Second comes the critical step in the IMRT process: a powerful computer program goes to work calculating the most effective way to deliver the strongest possible dose of radiation to the tumor. It does this by carefully shaping the radiation to match the precise contours of the tumor. Instead of one solid area of radiation, IMRT creates a plan for breaking up that single beam into a variety of smaller beams.
3. Third, the plan is molded into solid brass. The computer creates a blueprint for manufacturing five or more brass modulators. A modulator looks like a miniature mountain range on a round brass platform.
4. Fourth, the brass discs are mounted to the linear accelerator that produces the beam of radiation. The thickness of the brass modulates how much radiation reaches the tumor. A miniature mountain peak screens out most of the radiation, while a valley allows more of it to pass through. These mountains and valleys are a precise match for the target area within the body. Wherever the tumor is hiding behind healthy tissue, a mountain reduces the intensity of the dose. Wherever there is a clear shot at the target, a valley allows the intensity to be increased. All these different levels of radiation converge at the point of the tumor, and add up to a larger, more curative dose than could be delivered if it came in the form of a single beam.

High-Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy is an innovative form of internal radiotherapy (radiation treatments), also called interstitial irradiation. Brachytherapy is a quicker, more effective way to give radiation treatments. Brachytherapy places the radiation inside a tumor, tightly focused within the site of the cancer. This technique ensures the maximum radiation dose is given where you need it most, while allowing little radiation to reach the healthy surrounding tissue. In many cases, Brachytherapy is an effective alternative to surgical removal of a tumor and the affected organ. Brachytherapy can be used at Gibbs Cancer Center on these types of cancer: breast, prostate, lung, gynecologic and other organs, such as the gallbladder and pancreas.

Some of the potential benefits of HDR Brachytherapy are:

• For prostate cancer, the entire treatment takes one and a half days instead of five to seven weeks. For breast cancer, the entire treatment takes five days instead of five to seven weeks.
• The radiation dose is concentrated within the area of your body where the tumor was previously removed. Less radiation will reach the healthy part of the affected organ, and your body as a whole.
• Side effects may be reduced, because HDR does not cause irritation and burning to skin that is sometimes associated with external radiation.

To find out more, contact the Cancer Learning Center or call us toll free at 877-455-7747.