Radiation Oncology Explained

As preventions, treatments and cures become available for many diseases through medical breakthroughs, cancer is still the second leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. It is second only to heart disease. This is not an indicator that cancer research is not progressing as quickly as advancements in other fields of medicine or is lacking major breakthroughs. It just means that although new treatment technologies, like radiation oncology therapy, are being researched and developed, the discovery rate for those breakthroughs is less than those being found for diabetes, influenza and cardiovascular disease preventions and treatments.

One of the most harrowing problems with cancer treatment is that it is very difficult to create preventative techniques. While scientists and doctors have discovered that asbestos, tobacco and other carcinogens can cause cancer; there are no strict rules or guidelines that can completely guarantee a person will never get cancer. Some scientists have even speculated that cancer is not actually a disease, but a condition and though avoiding carcinogens and tobacco can help reduce your chances of developing cancer, there is really nothing that can be done beyond that.

An area which has brought about the most improvement in morality rates is radiologic therapy, which is the process of treating cancerous tumors through management radiology. Radiation oncology is the practice of doctors who use therapeutic radiology services and involves dozens of different specialized treatment methods that implement extremely sophisticated equipment and technologies to deliver precise radiation beams to the area affected by cancer, without damaging the surrounding tissues. Two methods of delivering radiation are Intense Modulated Radiation Therapy, or IMRT, and TomoTherapy.

IMRT uses advanced methodology, as well as a system of shields to protect healthy tissue and maximizing radiation delivery to the tumor. IMRT sends thousands of tiny beams from many different angles, thus delivering extremely high doses of radiation that are shaped as a concave. This shape helps spare normal tissue that is surrounded by the tumor. This is highly effective for small and stationary tumors that are surrounded by large areas of healthy tissue. These areas can include brain, head and neck, spinal cord or prostate tumors.

TomoTherapy uses very sophisticated intensity modulated radiotherapy to combine treatments, radiology CT image-guided positioning of the patient and treatment delivery into one single integrated system. TomoTherapy allows the radiologic oncologist to adjust the beam of radiation to exactly target a tumor according to its shape, size and location. The position of a tumor can be verified before each treatment session, which allows more responsive adjustments that ensure accurate delivery of radiation.

The goal of advancing radiation oncology technology is to deliver lethal does of radiation directly to the tumor while sparing as much of the surrounding healthy tissue as possible, through the use of image-guided radiology CT; all while decreasing the impact that the treatment has on a patient's quality of life. Though it may seem that cancer research is not moving as fast as advancements in other medical fields, or is not developing major breakthroughs, such is not the case.

More about radiation oncology

Interventional Radiology

Health experts say that the use of interventional radiology for health diagnosis and testing is one of the biggest life savers in the medical field. Ultrasounds, radiology MRI and mammograms catch diseases and illnesses early, in order to help patients live longer lives.

Ultrasound

The technology behind ultrasounds is based on the sonar that was used by the Navy during the Second World War. Researchers began experimenting with sonar after the war, to see if it had possibilities in aiding in medical diagnosis.