Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, uses high doses of ionizing radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Ionizing radiation (such as high energy photons, electrons, protons, heavy ions, etc.) destroys cancer cells or slows their growth by damaging their DNA.
Cancer is an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body. Cancer develops when the genes responsible for regulating cell division are damaged. Therefore, abnormal cells are formed and grow out of control. These extra cells may form a mass of tissue, called a “tumor”, in one or more parts of the body (World Health Organization).
Approximately 38.4% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetime (National Cancer Institute). The estimated number of incident cases from 2018 to 2040 for all types of cancers, sexes and ages will increase from 18.1 million to 29.5 million (World Health Organization). In the year 2016, there were an estimated 15.5 million cancer survivors in the United States alone. This number is expected to increase to 20.3 million by the year 2026 (National Cancer Institute). Modern medicine has developed sophisticated tools that allow healthcare professionals to treat, or at least control cancer. In fact, more people than ever before lead full lives after cancer treatment.
There are several types of cancer therapy, but the most common ones are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy). Many people have a combination of treatments, such as surgery and chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Other types of cancer therapy include immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and hormone therapy.
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, uses high doses of ionizing radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Ionizing radiation (such as high energy photons, electrons, protons, heavy ions, etc.) destroys cancer cells or slows their growth by damaging their DNA. The goal of a radiotherapy treatment is to kill cancer cells while sparing healthy surrounding tissues. There are two main types of radiation therapy, external beam radiation therapy coming from a machine that aims radiation at the location of the cancer, and internal radiation therapy in which a radioactive source is put inside the body. Radiotherapy can be applied to almost every part of the body. All radiotherapy treatments are individualized for each patient and depend on factors such as the type of cancer, the position of the tumor, and the patient’s physical condition, etc. Radiation therapy is administered by highly specialized healthcare professionals, such as Radiation Oncologists, Neurosurgeons, Medical Physicists, and Radiation Therapists.
Brain radiation therapy is the treatment of brain lesions, such as malignant primary and metastatic tumors, benign tumors, and functional disorders, using radiation. The most common techniques used for brain radiotherapy are Whole Brain Radiotherapy, Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT), Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), and Proton Therapy. These are non-surgical therapies that can be used to treat functional abnormalities and complicated lesions in the brain. Their main advantage of SRS and Proton Therapy is that they can deliver highly accurate radiation doses with millimeter precision, in a single or hypofractionated treatment schemes. Because of the higher doses per session, precision and accuracy are of critical importance. SRS treatments use high energy photon beams delivered through a variety of SRS-dedicated systems including CyberKnife, Gamma Knife, ZAP-X, TomoTherapy etc., or conventional linear accelerators equipped with high-end additional systems for dose shaping, patient positioning and monitoring. Proton Therapy delivers beams of accelerated high-energy protons requiring the same level of accuracy and precision as SRS.
The goal of radiation therapy is to destroy or control cancer cells and its benefits are considered to outweigh its inherent risks. Minor side effects may occur even when radiation doses are precisely delivered. These include nausea, localized hair loss, fatigue and headaches. Nonetheless, in the event of even a small deviation of the radiation dose delivery from the desired target area, significant side effects can occur. Their extent depends on the size of the deviation and the amount of radiation dose received. In addition, the radiosensitivity of the affected healthy tissue is an important factor. In order to minimize the risk of this kind of incident, multiple quality assurance and pre-treatment verification checks are completed prior to each patient’s treatment. A highly precise, wholly individualized solution dedicated to brain radiotherapy is RTsafe’s PseudoPatient®.
Patients should always take doctor’s advice to decide whether PseudoPatient solution is suitable for them. Patients and doctors should review all available information and associated risks in order to make an informed decision. Individuals’ outcomes may depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to patient characteristics, disease characteristics. Product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of RTsafe.
RTsafe as a medical technology innovator meets the challenge for integrated Machine and Patient QA solutions. By utilizing cutting-edge 3D printing technology and real 3D dosimetry, introduces truly end-to-end QA procedures and patient-centered processes.
