Saint Francis first to offer IMRT in region

Sophisticated radiation treatment

With the addition of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) at the Cancer Institute of Cape Girardeau LLC., which is part of Saint Francis Healthcare System, patients in the five-state region now have access to one of the most advanced cancer treatments available.

"The IMRT linear accelerator is the most precise and sophisticated radiation treatment in the world for many types of cancer," said Tapan Roy, MD, FACR, radiation oncologist at the Cancer Institute.

The Cancer Institute of Cape Girardeau is the first and only IMRT treatment center in the region. The only other IMRT locations in Missouri are in St. Louis and Joplin.

IMRT is an extremely accurate radiation treatment that targets tumors but avoids healthy tissue minimizing painful or annoying side effects.

"The technology allows clinicians to use radiation to treat tumors near delicate organs like the eyes, spinal cord or rectum -- areas that would have been considered too risky just a few years ago," said Roy. IMRT is most often used to treat prostate cancer as well as lung, head and neck, liver, pancreatic and brain cancers.

Because of IMRT's ability to precisely direct radiation, the amount of radiation used can be safely increased and controlled, resulting in better outcomes and reduced side effects. For example, before IMRT, a prostate cancer patient may have developed problems with diarrhea or urination as a result of radiation passing through the bladder or rectum on the way to the cancer site. With IMRT, the radiation beams' power can be reduced as they pass through healthy tissue or the beams can be directed to avoid those areas altogether.

"IMRT is one step forward because it will vary the intensity of the beams according to what the physician wants," said Roy. "With IMRT, I'm telling the computer what I want and the computer is giving me the solution.

"For example, I want a certain desired outcome for a prostate cancer patient and I want radiation minimized to a certain part of the rectum. I provide the information, and the computer provides the solution to achieve the desired result."

With advanced diagnostics, sophisticated computers and treatment planning software, IMRT also allows physicians to direct multiple radiation beams to enter through different parts of the body to achieve conformal treatment -- meaning the radiation beam is wrapped around the tumor.

"With the advent of IMRT, side effects have been reduced tenfold," said Roy. "The patient's quality of life is much better and, at the same time, his or her chances of improvement or tumor control are much higher."