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A 77-year-old man with glioblastoma multiforme, a form of brain cancer,was the first to receive a two-minute RapidArc treatment at the center. "Thispatient was an ideal candidate, because RapidArc targets cancerous regions andlimits the amount of dose reaching the surrounding healthy tissues," saidHenry Yampolsky, MD, radiation oncologist. "We always want to avoid hittinghealthy tissues, and that was especially important for this particular patientbecause the tumor is very close to the optic chiasm and brainstem-two criticalareas that need to be protected."
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In addition, Dr. Yampolsky said that his patient is extremelyclaustrophobic and has a fear of lying flat, so conventional treatments, whichtake up to 20 minutes, have been hard for him to tolerate. "Using RapidArc,we were able to deliver the treatment (in less than four minutes)significantly reducing the amount of time that the patient had to spend on thetable."
RapidArc delivers an advanced image-guided, intensity-modulated radiationtherapy (IMRT) treatment two to eight times faster than is possible withconventional IMRT or helical tomotherapy.
Prior to each treatment, special imaging technology is used to pinpointthe targeted tumor and line it up so that the radiation is delivered preciselyand accurately. Once the patient is properly positioned, the actualtreatments are typically delivered in less than two minutes with just a single360 degree rotation of the treatment machine around the patient.
Yampolsky points out that the speed of a RapidArc treatment is important,both for patient comfort and convenience, and also for treatment quality."Patients are less likely to move during a treatment that takes less time,which can improve the accuracy of the treatment," he said. "Over a course oftherapy, which typically lasts several weeks with treatments given Mondaythrough Friday, the amount of time saved is considerable."
"We are committed to being on the leading edge, in terms of our technologyand providing patients with the highest standards of care," said StevenElconin, executive director. "Our radiation oncologists determined thatRapidArc technology would lead to quicker treatment times and greater patientcomfort, and those are some of the benefits we want to provide for ourpatients."
"About 1.4 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. eachyear," said Christopher Rose, MD, radiation oncologist with the Center. "Overtheir lifetimes, one in three women and every other man will develop cancer.Nearly two-thirds will receive radiation therapy as part of their treatment.That adds up to about 23.4 million radiation therapy treatment visits peryear. If a technology like RapidArc enables us to help even a fraction ofthese patients quickly and with high levels of accuracy, it will make a bigdifference to their quality of life, both during the treatment and, for manypatients, long after treatments are over."
About The Center for Radiation Therapy of Beverly Hills
Situated in the heart of Los Angeles, The Center for Radiation Therapy isone of the foremost radiation oncology centers in California. Staffed bynationally renowned oncologists, equipped with the most advanced technologyavailable and designed as a patient-centric facility, The Center hasestablished a new standard for clinical expertise and conscientious patientcare. The Center is one of the first facilities in the U.S. to offerRapidArc(TM) radiotherapy, the newest approach in providing a fast, precisecancer treatment. The Center maintains a paperless records system forefficient doc
