Depending on your condition, the radiotherapy team consisting of radiation oncologists, radiophysicists, dosimetrists and other specialists create a treatment plan, applying different radiotherapy techniques in order to modulate the dose administered.
HC Marbella’s advanced helical TomoTherapy system enables the performance of different techniques to administer the dose in the safest way, respecting healthy tissues as much as possible and minimising the side effects derived from the treatment.
Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy is a technique which enables the radiation beam to be adjusted three-dimensionally to the treatment volume by forming radiation beams.
In addition to shaping the radiation beams, IMRT allows modulation or control of the radiation intensity of each small beam, allowing the prescribed dose to stay within irregular volumes, and thus avoid irradiation of healthy tissue, even avoiding structures surrounded by treatment areas.
Because IMRT enables modulation of the dose of radiation reaching the tumour, relative to that reaching healthy tissue, higher and more effective doses can be administered to the tumour with lower risks and fewer side effects than with conventional radiotherapy.
Extracranial stereotactic radiotherapy is a highly precise technique which enables the administration of very high doses of radiation in a very specific area and in a few sessions (between 1 and 8 sessions).
SRBT is usually administered to treat tumours: lung, liver, adrenal, spinal and prostate tumours or metastases.
These treatments require highest levels of precision. Lung, pancreatic, liver or prostate lesions can be affected by involuntary movement during breathing, advanced respiratory control techniques are therefore required.
HC Cancer Center’s TomoTherapy tumour-tracking system, the Synchrony System, enables movements to be monitored.
Stereotactic radiosurgery is a form of highly precise radiotherapy, initially developed to treat small brain tumours and functional abnormalities in the brain.
Despite its name, SRS is a non-surgical procedure. Compared to traditional radiotherapy it administers conformed radiation at higher doses, usually in one or a few sessions.
Due to the high degree of precision, radiotherapy accelerators are required which enable an accuracy to less than 1 mm. TomoTherapy at HC Cancer Center enables the treatment of lesions with submillimetre precision, enabling treatment of these lesions in a safe and effective manner
This concept encompasses the use of imaging techniques which allow us to visualise the treatment area and thus correct possible positioning errors, organ movement and tumour variation.
The objective of IGRT is to ensure the accuracy of treatment.
This process involves a treatment plan which can be modified with successive measures during its delivery.
The goal is to improve treatment, monitoring variations and incorporating them into the treatment plan while it is being administered.
During this process, the treatment field and dose can be moulded to each patient’s characteristics to achieve safe dose escalation.
Our body, while at rest, performs a series of involuntary physiological movements such as breathing or bladder filling, which can alter the position of the tumour during treatment.
The Synchrony system is a pioneering radiotherapy system, which enables us to track the treatment target (tumour) in real time and synchronise the administration of radiation to the movements that occur in the patient.
In other machines, movement restriction/compensation systems involve widening the area which receives radiation, uncomfortable physical immobilisation measures or breathing control techniques. Thanks to the Synchrony system we can treat the tumour with greater precision and safety whilst being more comfortable for the patient.
It is mainly used in lung tumours to counteract respiratory movements and prevent the irradiation of healthy lung tissue. It is also the only system that can track lung lesions without requiring fiducial marker insertion (internal markers) for follow-up.
The Synchrony System is also able to track the treatment volume of lesions precisely in other locations such as the prostate or liver, with the help of the insertion of fiducial markers.
Prostate radiotherapy treatment can sometimes damage adjacent at-risk organs and may cause intestinal, urinary or sexual alterations, significantly affecting the patient’s quality of life.
SpaceOAR is a gelatinous substance (hydrogel) which is temporarily placed between the prostate and rectum creating a space between the two, minimising urinary, sexual and intestinal side effects and protecting the quality of life of prostate cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment.
The insertion of the gel is done on an outpatient basis and the gel remains in the body for approximately 6 months, during which time treatment is completed, it is expelled naturally in the urine
PseudoPatient, by RTsafe, is a tool, unique in Spain, to ensure personalised quality control in each patient, maximising the safety and benefits of treatment, minimising the risk of side effects.
On the day of the simulation CT scan, a 3D impression of the patient’s head is made, including all the details of cranial anatomy, unique to each patient. This enables an accurate review of the complete sequence of processes performed for radiosurgery treatment
The head phantom is filled with a radiation-sensitive substance and radiation is given using the same personalised treatment plan which will be given to the patient. The geometry and dose delivered are reviewed in 3D and sent to a measurement laboratory so that they can also externally verify the data obtained.
Head radiotherapy treatments, whether conventional radiotherapy or radiosurgery, require extra precision and accuracy, and PseudoPatient enables us to perform a truly personalised and individualised pre-treatment check.
Dr. Nuño Cristina
Radiotherapy Oncology Specialist
Dr. Sedano Ferreras, Paula
Radiotherapy Oncology Specialist
Dr. García Baltar, José Antonio
Especialista en Radiofísica Hospitalaria
Online appointment and download of test results through My HC.
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