TRUE BEAM Radiotherapy in Valencia

If you have been diagnosed with a tumor or you know someone who has experienced a similar situation, or you will be treated with radiation therapy, then you have probably heard such names: IGRT, IMRT, SBRT, V-MAT … You probably are not you know what are the features of each of them.

The first thing to know is that they are all matched to different types of radiation therapy – one of the most common, accurate, and safe cancer treatments.

Medical consultation in Valencia

We have already noted that about six out of ten cancer patients receive radiation therapy during the course of the disease. Either as a single therapy or in combination with other treatments, especially surgery and chemotherapy.

Despite the high frequency of the use of radiotherapy, it is precisely on account of it that most of the questions and suspicions arise among patients, despite the fact that it is effective, accurate and safe.

HOW DOES RADIOTHERAPY WORK?

A patient receiving radiation therapy will receive concentrated, high-energy ionizing radiation up to a certain volume (sometimes with only one dose), which is capable of destroying the malignant cells that form the tumor.

This radiation is received during radiotherapy sessions, whose frequency and duration will depend on the type of tumor, its location, size and the patient’s own clinical situation.

Patients should be aware that the sessions do NOT cause pain. Radiation therapy cannot be seen or heard, perhaps for this reason the patient is often left with the feeling that “nothing has been done to him.”

Radiation therapy has advanced so much in recent years that it is equivalent to surgery in efficiency and precision in achieving certain results. This is due to technological advances and the introduction of stereotaxic three-dimensional navigation systems. Creation of new linear accelerators that allow the radiation beam to adapt to the shape of the tumor, to synchronize with the movements of organs. Hence, the side effects on healthy tissues are reduced.

Intensive modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)

It adapts the shape and intensity of the radiation beam to the shape and location of the tumor to efficiently and concentratedly treat the affected tissue while preserving healthy tissue.

Volume Modulated Arc Therapy (V-MAT)

This is intensive modulation radiation therapy in which a linear accelerator rotates in arcs around the patient, modulating the radiation intensity and rotation speed. Thanks to this, we are able to reduce the irradiation session to a few minutes, which with traditional linear accelerators can take up to an hour. During treatment, the radiation beam adjusts to the shape of the tumor and can be injected from almost any angle. In the most advanced linear accelerators, this method is performed at high speed, and the duration of the sessions is several minutes.

Brain radiosurgery (Stereotactic radiosurgery)

This technology is so called because the radiation achieves its accuracy and efficiency comparable to the results of surgery, with the advantage that it is not an invasive treatment, does not require anesthesia and is completely outpatient. Its very high accuracy with a working and safe area of ​​about a tenth of a millimeter makes it possible to concentrate large doses of radiation, which in some cases reduces the duration of treatment to one session. The most important feature of radiosurgery is the treatment of intracranial lesions and brain cancer.

Thanks to a new generation of linear accelerators such as the True Beam STX  with Novalis technology, we are able to treat without the classic and inconvenient stereotaxic frame attached to the patient’s head. The frame has been replaced with a thermoplastic mask that is customized, comfortable and portable for the patient, but also improves the navigation and localization of the tumor we are about to irradiate.

The duration of the session is several minutes, and most of the session is devoted to simulation and ensuring the accuracy of all stages of the process. The radiation is delivered after a few seconds and is not painful, and after the radiation the patient can continue his or her usual professional or family life.

The ability to accurately distribute the radiation dose using image control systems has made it possible to apply the concept of radiosurgery to other areas and organs, such as the lungs or the liver, to treat primary tumors or metastases, which until recently were considered irreversible, minimizing areas of radiation, hence the consequences of side effects. the effects of radiation on healthy tissues. In addition to its use on the lungs and liver, SBRT is indicated for the treatment of bone damage.

Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) (IGRT)

Image-guided systems help us delineate the treatment area with extreme precision, minimizing the effects of radiation on healthy tissue. We currently have systems (Cone Beam, CT, Exac Trac, Respiratory Gaiting, connected to a 6D robotic table) that allow us to process moving organs with the same precision with which we treat static tissues and organs, but with beam synchronization. radiation with movement of organs. This is necessary for tumors in moving organs such as the liver, lungs, which until now needed large doses of radiation, which caused corresponding side effects.

Adaptive Radiation Therapy

In this method, we use daily checks, which are done with IGRT technology, in order to make a consistent adaptation of therapy in accordance with the evolution of the tumor. So if a tumor shrinks or grows during treatment, our computers detect it and adapt the treatment to the new situation. This greatly improves long-term treatment as it helps protect healthy tissue and prevents therapeutic errors that can lead to maladaptive treatments. It is especially useful for the treatment of lymph, lung carcinoma, and head and neck tumors.

TrueBeam STx Novalis

Radiation therapy is one of the most powerful weapons in helping us fight cancer. It consists of releasing a beam of radiation that destroys tumors and can be used alone or in combination with surgery and / or chemotherapy. It is an outpatient and non-invasive procedure that does not require anesthesia.

In Spain, radiotherapy is based on the TrueBeam STx system, which, unlike conventional linear accelerators, is a versatile, integrated platform that can treat moving tissues with unprecedented levels of accuracy and speed.

As such, it is the most accurate, reliable and complete linear accelerator that exists and has been identified as a desirable superiority in any radiation therapy treatment, contributing to radiation therapy with a new concept: minimally invasive radiation therapy.

Advantages of TrueBeam STX over other linear accelerators:

• Укрепляет и совершенствует классические лучевые терапии для обеспечения точности и скорости. Это позволяет вводить очень высокие дозы облучения за несколько секунд и в отдельных точках организма.
• Это открывает возможность проведения лечения у пациентов, которым ранее было отказано в лучевой терапии. Открывает новые терапевтические возможности для пациентов с метастазами в брюшной полости, неоперабельные опухоли в печени (первичные и метастазы), рак поджелудочной железы и первичных или метастатических опухолей легких, при которых операция была исключена.
• Точность- это стандарт обработки, выполненный с помощью Truebeam-STX, и для этого он имеет ряд систем, которые гарантируют эту точность:

1. Система RapidArc
2. Устройство OBI (On board Image). Это позволяет позиционировать пациента в конкретной ситуации для проведения лечения, проводя двунаправленную 2D / 2D-лучевую терапию с полной гарантией.
3. Устройство CT “cone beam CT”, которое позволяет проводить КТ-сканирование непосредственно с пациентом, помещенным на ускоритель, идентифицируя костные структуры пациента и мягкие ткани, чтобы проверить правильность их положения во время сеанса облучения. Он выполняет высокоточную трехмерную / трехмерную рентгенотерапию.
4. Система Exac Trac для лучевая терапияс визуальным контролем (IGRT), рентгеновский локатор, установленный в комнате для лечения и не зависящий от ускорителя. Эта система позволяет определять местонахождение участка с помощью костных структур или имплантируемых маркеров, воздействующих на IGRT 2D / 3D.
5. Система “Respiratory gaiting” обнаруживает движения органов и обрабатывает их с такой же точностью, как если бы они были статическими органами, а излучение подаётся только тогда, когда опухоль находится внутри нацеленного пучка излучения. Эта система обеспечивает исключительную адаптацию лечения и снижение облучения здоровых тканей.
6. Роботизированная стол 6D (перемещается в трех линейных осях пространства и в трех угловых осях для координированной работы между системам IGRT и «Respiratory gaiting»,
7. Динамические микротульты.
8. Устройства для надлежащей иммобилизации, репозиционирования и размещения пациента во время лечения, характерного для каждой области тела.
9. Модули для стереотаксической радиохирургической техники

• Strengthens and refines classic radiation therapies for precision and speed. This allows very high doses of radiation to be administered in a few seconds and at specific points in the body.
• This opens up the possibility of treating patients who have previously been denied radiation therapy. Opens up new therapeutic options for patients with abdominal metastases, inoperable liver tumors (primary and metastases), pancreatic cancer and primary or metastatic lung tumors in which surgery was ruled out.
• Precision is a machining standard made with the Truebeam-STX and for this it has a number of systems that guarantee this precision:

1. RapidArc System
2. OBI (On board Image) device. This allows the patient to be positioned in a specific treatment situation with full guaranteed bi-directional 2D / 2D radiation therapy.
3. CT “cone beam CT” device, which allows CT scans to be performed directly with the patient placed on the accelerator, identifying the patient’s bone structures and soft tissue to check their correct position during the radiation session. It performs high precision 3D / 3D X-ray therapy.
4. The Exac Trac System for Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), an X-ray locator installed in the treatment room and independent of the accelerator. This system allows the site to be located using bone structures or implantable markers that act on the 2D / 3D IGRT.
5. The Respiratory gaiting system detects organ movements and processes them with the same precision as if they were static organs, and radiation is delivered only when the tumor is inside the targeted radiation beam. This system provides exceptional treatment adaptation and reduced radiation exposure to healthy tissue.
6. 6D robotic table (moves in three linear axes of space and in three angular axes for coordinated work between IGRT and Respiratory gaiting systems,
7. Dynamic microtults.
8. Devices for proper immobilization, repositioning and placement of the patient during treatment, specific to each area of ​​the body.
9. Modules for stereotactic radiosurgery technology

All the technological advances included in the TrueBeam STX, used by the expert team, allow for high therapeutic efficacy and minimize side effects due to more accurate and selective irradiation in the treatment of tumor lesions.

Все технологические достижения, включенные в TrueBeam STX, используемые экспертной группой, позволяют получить высокую терапевтическую эффективность и минимизировать побочные эффекты благодаря более точному и избирательному облучению при лечении опухолевых поражений.

НАШИ ЦЕНЫ

• Radiotherapy and radiosurgery
• Nuclear medicine

Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery in Valencia, Spain

Radiotherapy course

TrueBeam STX

Nuclear medicine

Positron Emission Tomography (PET / CT)

Medical gammography

SPECT Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography

Treatment of diseases and metastases