Tomotherapy

TomoTherapy System is designed to safely and routinely deliver image-guided,intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IG-IMRT) for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. What has made the TomoTherapy System stand out when compared to conventional radiation systems is the integration of computed tomography (CT) scanner to perform daily imaging before each treatment session.

The daily imaging capability makes it possible for clinicians to identify and correct for any variations in patient positioning, changes in the tumour, or other factors, such as weight gain or loss, to ensure the continued precise and safe delivery of the radiation dose to the target area. Because the TomoTherapy System’s precision minimizes theexposure of radiation to surrounding healthy tissue, many doctors report that their patients suffer from fewer side effects compared to patients receiving conventional forms of radiation therapy.

The precision may enable the TomoTherapy System to be used to treat patients who have hadradiation therapy before if their cancers have returned using the re-treatmentfunctionality.

Why Does Precision Matter?

Technological advancements have enabled manufacturers of external-beam radiation therapy equipment to improve the precision of their delivery systems.

In general:

• The radiation beam needs to enter and exit the body
• The device design limits how radiation beams can be directed into the body
• The device may deliver some radiation to the tissue surrounding the tumour because of tumour motion during treatment

Tomotherapy provide continuous delivery of radiation from 360 degrees around the patient, or delivery from clinician-specified beam angles. These unique features,combined with daily 3D image guidance, enable physicians to deliver highly accurate,individualized dose distributions that precisely conform to the shape of the patient’s tumour while minimizing dose to normal, healthy tissue, resulting in fewer side effects for patients. The system helps in treating all standard radiation therapy indications including breast, prostate, lung, and head and neck cancers, in addition to complex treatments, such as total marrow irradiation.

Benefits

Patients are hugely benefited by the new generation of TomoTherapy.

• Daily imaging helps the doctor to see their tumour shrinkage everyday, helping them to restrict the dose to the tumour/cancer and not the healthy tissue resulting in fewer complications and by far superior tumour control
• Low CT imaging dose with Iterative imaging even helps patients with metal implants such as dentures, a pacemaker or orthopedic implants to get highly accurate treatments as imaging can be done without artifacts.
• High local control of tumour
• Least dose to thehealthy tissue and normal anatomical organs such as eyes, lungs, heart, kidneys,parotid glands and other organs fulfilling important functions within the body etc
• High survival rate – Least complications or side effects of radiation treatment
• Least complications or side effects of radiation treatment
• Targeted treatments become a reality
• Dose is restricted to the target or the tumour
• Complicated and paediatric treatments can be treated with confidence

Treatment field size

Large filed cancer is common in the filed due to late diagnosis and it’s often that patient ended up with large tumour/ cancer or at multiple sites:

• Without junction means no overlapping dose and thus resulting in highly conformal treatments and least complications and side effects due to high dose to healthy tissue or organs incase of regular linac based treatment
• The most complicated treatment needs are straight forward and have a simplified workflow meaning high patient comfort and far superior outcomes

This is an important requirement in the region as the majority of the patients in the region as per the reports require large field treatments because of the below factors:

• The region has a poor detection rate with only 2030% of cancer diagnosed in Stage 1 & 2
• The region has a higher incidence of Prostate, H&N, Lung, Breast & GI cancers making upto 80-90% of cancer in the region and that’s where TomoTherapy has by far superior treatment results

Range of Indications Covered

• Brain cancers and benign brain tumours
• Head, neck and oral cancers
• Breast cancers,including inflammatory breast disease (both Unilateral & Bilateral)
• Lung cancers and lung tumours
• Skin cancers
• Prostate cancer, from early-stage to advanced disease
• Oesophageal and upper gastrointestinal cancers
• Cervical, ovarian,uterine, vaginal and vulva cancers
• Colon, stomach, rectal and anal cancers
• Liver and pancreatic cancers
• Cancers that have metastasized to multiple locations
• Pre-transplant treatment for blood diseases, such as leukaemia