3D-Conformal Radiation Therapy - 3D Conformal Radiation

3D-Conformal Radiation Therapy
Kimmel Cancer Center

Radiation therapy is a method of destroying the cancer cells without removing the gland. At the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital there are a number of ways of delivering the radiation:

In the last 10-15 years, new technology in radiation therapy has improved targeting accuracy, allowing higher, more effective doses to be delivered in the prostate while keeping side effects and complications to a minimum.

At Thomas Jefferson University we have developed one of the most sophisticated three-dimensional (3D) conformal external beam radiation programs in the United States. Utilizing computer-assisted tomography (CAT) scans performed in our department we are able to integrate this information and develop three-dimensional reconstructions of a patients anatomy. This allows us to better visualize the cancer and surrounding normal tissue in three-dimensions which was not feasible before the development of this technology. With this comprehensive ability to identify in three-dimensions the "target" and surrounding normal tissues, we can customize the radiation beams for each patient and more precisely aim the radiation beams while avoiding the surrounding normal tissues as much as possible.

A series of daily treatments are administered with a machine called a linear accelerator filled with a multi-leaf collimator. Treatments are given in brief daily sessions for a period of seven to eight weeks. This device delivers multiple converging beams of high-energy radiation to the prostate and surrounding tissues. The radiation energy causes the death of the cancer cells.

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