IMRT Treatment

Patients with certain cancers - such as prostate, head and neck or pancreatic cancer-may have an improved chance of cure at St. Joseph's Mercy Cancer Center because of a high - sophisticated technology called Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), according to David Pruitt, M.D., Radiation Oncologist.

IMRT enables the physician to administer greater radiation with extremely high precision to the cancer while sparing the surrounding healthy organs. "There are two major reasons why this treatment is so effective for our cancer patients," according to Dr. Pruitt. "In treating cancer, our first objective is to spare normal tissue from the effects of radiation, and the second objective is to increase the dose that goes directly to the targeted tumor." The Mercy Cancer Center uses special computer software which enables the clinicians to simulate, plan and deliver IMRT and conventional treatment with utmost precision.

 

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