Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy.
This state-of-the-art cancer treatment method delivers high doses of radiation directly to cancer cells in a very targeted way, much more precisely that is possible with conventional radiotherapy. IMRT involves varying (or modulating) the intensity of the radiation dose. It can deliver higher radiation doses directly to cancer cells while sparing more of the surrounding healthy tissue.

Studies at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York have shown that IMRT, using radiation doses 25% higher than those commonly used in conventional radiation therapy, have more than doubled the rate of local tumor control, from 45% to 94%. These high doses were delivered while simultaneously reducing by 10% to 20% the rate of certain normal tissue complications. IMRT is demonstrating improvements in cancer treatments to a variety of anatomical sites in studies at a number of prestigious institutions worldwide, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Stanford, MD Anderson, The Mayo clinic and Johns Hopkins.

These studies suggest that IMRT may become the standard of care in radiotherapy for many forms of cancer, including prostate, head and neck, breast, lung, brain, and abdominal. Benefits also extend to recurrent disease.

Some of the benefits of IMRT:

• Higher doses of radiation can be delivered directly to tumors and cancer cells, while surrounding organs and tissues are protected.
• Lower doses to healthy normal tissues may mean fewer complications or side effects. For example, in the case of head and neck tumors, IMRT allows radiation to be delivered in a way that minimizes exposure of the spinal cord, optic nerve, salivary glands, or other important structures. In the case of prostate cancer, exposure of the nearby bladder or rectum can be minimized.
• Physicians can treat cancers that were previously untreatable with radiation therapy.
• IMRT can be a non-invasive alternative to surgery in some cases.
• IMRT targets the tumor and not the entire body