Cancer Patients Benefit from Image-Guided Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery

Wilson Radiation Oncology has commenced treating cancer patients using a new TrueBeam system from Varian Medical Systems.  This innovative technology enables delivery of highly-precise, sophisticated image-guided radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer. Margaret Metts, MD, recently treated patients using the hospital’s new system for the first time.  Patients with breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and other disease sites are now being treated. 

The TrueBeam system incorporates “intelligent” automation and high dose delivery rates that help reduce treatment time. Simple treatments that once took 15 minutes or more once the patient was positioned for treatment can be completed in less than two. “These are significant reductions in treatment time,” said Dr. Margaret Metts. “Patients will be able to spend less time lying immobilized and holding still on a hard surface.”

"TrueBeam makes it possible to deliver accurate image-guided treatments within a few minutes each day. During treatment, we can monitor and compensate for tumor motion, which further increases our precision and accuracy,” Metts said.

TrueBeam can be used for many forms of advanced treatments such as image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), including intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), RapidArc® radiotherapy technology and Gated RapidArc. “Each of these approaches is appropriate in specific  types of clinical situations,” said Dr. Metts. “With TrueBeam, we can choose the optimal approach for each of our patients.”