Equipment

State-of-the-Art Technology

People and technology are the driving forces that separate one healthcare provider from another. Community CancerCare is fortunate to have the best of both. Through its affiliation with Hartford Hospital's high technology Radiation Oncology program, Community CancerCare offers access to the latest technology while providing most of the treatment within the patient's own community. The staff of Community CancerCare work in the community every day as a part of the local health care system and offer the personal touch which is so important to good outcomes. It is the combination of equipment and professional and technical staff which guarantees that the people of Eastern Connecticut have today's best advantages when it comes to radiation therapy.

Linear Accelerators

A medical linear accelerator is a high energy x-ray machine which produces and focuses radiation beams to treat tumors or areas of the body where there is cancer. With linear accelerator machines, the sharpness of the beam edge allows for very precise treatment, and adjacent tissues are spared unnecessary radiation during treatment. The precision a radiologist can achieve with these machines is similar to that necessary in surgical procedures. In 2005, Community CancerCare upgraded the treatment planning system and linear accelerator technology to deliver Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT).

CT Scanners

CT is an abbreviation for Computerized Tomography or what used to be called Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT scan). The CT scanner equipment adds an additional view of the patient anatomy and tumor. The CT scanner is used only for treatment planning and not for diagnostic purposes.

Virtual Simulation

Virtual simulation is a technique involving the use of CT images to construct an exact computer model of a patient's anatomy. Beam placement and visualization can be optimized on the virtual patient model, and the simulation data can be sent to the facility where the patient will be treated. A collaborative program with the imaging departments of Manchester Memorial and Johnson Memorial Hospitals, this cutting-edge technique will enhance the services at the centers and allow the majority of the patients to have all of their services provided in the community setting.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)

Community CancerCare located in the John DeQuattro Community Cancer Center and the Phoenix Community Cancer Center, now offers now offers patients Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), a highly sophisticated new technology of radiotherapy. IMRT enables the radiation oncologist to improve radiation targeting of tumors regardless of their size and shape. This improved targeting technique allows the radiation to attack the cancer without damaging nearby healthy tissue and organs.

IMRT is a revolutionary approach to the delivery of radiation," said Dr. Steven Hauser, radiation oncologist. "It (IMRT) is capable of automatically creating and implementing an optimized treatment plan for targeting tumors of almost any size or shape in essentially any anatomical location. I think this technology represents the future of radiation therapy," said Dr. Hauser, who is on staff at Manchester Memorial Hospital and Hartford Hospital.

Conventional radiation therapy uses beams of uniform intensity, which makes it extremely difficult for radiation oncologists to direct the right amount of radiation to the tumor without jeopardizing surrounding tissue. That means, in some cases, the physicians must either stop short of optimally treating the tumor or proceed with the increased risk of negative side effects by damaging healthy organs and tissue that are adjacent to the tumor.

The IMRT addresses that risk by utilizing many pencil-thin beams of varied intensity during the delivery. This technique allows the radiation oncologists to deliver more radiation to the tumor while protecting the surrounding normal tissue.

Currently, the IMRT is being used to treat selected cancers of the prostate, the head and neck, and breast. The radiation oncology team investigates the best course available for the clinical situation, of which, IMRT maybe an option. In the future, treatment options for various other cancers utilizing the benefits of IMRT will be evaluated as this technology.

Gold Marker Placement for Prostate Cancer

Community CancerCare now offers the most advanced approach in delivering external radiation for prostate cancer. In collaboration with the patient’s urologist, prior to starting IMRT, three gold markers are placed under ultrasound guidance which then acts as a “GPS system”. This allows the radiation oncologist to more accurately track the prostate during external radiation treatments. Gold markers have been shown to not only increase the accuracy and therefore the total radiation dose delivered to the prostate, but also to help minimize the exposure of radiation to the bladder and rectum which translates in lower side effects. Much like a prostate biopsy, a rectal probe is used to accurately place the gold markers. Discomfort related to the procedure is minimal.

More information about gold markers in What’s New

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