Cancer Care Services
Radiation Oncology
Radiation therapy may be a primary therapy or combined with chemotherapy, hormone therapy, surgery or a combination of the three. The team at Beverly Hills Cancer Center includes the area’s leaders in radiation oncology and offers the latest in leading-edge technology. Few private clinics are as well-equipped as Beverly Hills Cancer Center. We invest in the most up-to-date technology available, for diagnostic and treatment accuracy as well as patient comfort.
Our on-site diagnostic imaging center with PET/CT scanning, CT, MRI and bone scans allows the physicians to use these technologies for computer modeling and automation to increase treatment specificity and accuracy. With more sophisticated treatment planning, radiation treatments can often be delivered with a maximum dose to the tumor, while minimizing potential side effects.
MammoSite® – This treatment of five-day targeted radiation therapy can help you get back to your normal life sooner – just five days instead of a five to seven week course of radiation treatments. MammoSite places the radiation source in the space left when a tumor is removed. This delivers radiation to the area where cancer is most likely to recur. Studies have shown that the MammoSite radiation therapy system is well-tolerated, with minimal short-term side effects.
Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D CRT) – Tumors come in many different shapes and sizes. This type of radiation therapy uses computers and special imaging techniques to treat tumors of various sizes and shapes often in difficult locations. Computer-assisted tomography (CT or CAT scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MR or MRI scans) and/or positron emission tomography (PET scans) are used to create detailed, three-dimensional images of the tumor and surrounding organs. These help radiation oncologists precisely tailor the radiation beams to the size and shape of your tumor. Because the radiation beams are precisely directed, healthy nearby tissue receives less radiation.
Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) – This radiation therapy is a specialized form of 3D CRT that allows radiation to be more exactly shaped to fit a tumor. IMRT is considered the most advanced 3-D conformal radiation therapy and helps destroy cancer cells without damaging healthy tissue. It allows radiation oncologists to use different beam intensities to deliver radiation to the tumor sites via the most favorable paths. This allows higher doses of radiation to be delivered directly to the tumor while minimizing damage to surrounding vital organs. In some situations, this may increase the chance of a cure.
Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) – Since tumors can move between treatments, radiation oncologists at Beverly Hills Cancer Center take advantage of image guidance (IGRT) to help better deliver the radiation to the cancer. IGRT involves radiation treatments guided by CT or X-ray imaging (Cone beam CT or KV matching). During IGRT treatments, doctors compare images daily, just prior to the treatment to see if the treatment needs to be adjusted. This increases the accuracy of very complex treatments. IGRT and CBCT are used in conjunction with IMRT and 3-D conformal treatments. In some cases, doctors will implant a tiny marker in or near the tumor to pinpoint it for IGRT.
Respiratory Gating and 4D CT – This allows the radiation oncologist, the radiation therapist and the radiation physicist to observe tumor motion during the regular breathing cycle. By integrating respiratory gating software into a treatment plan, we can more closely define a physical window or zone around the tumor and deliver radiation only when the tumor passes through that window or zone. By accounting for respiratory motion, the dose of radiation can be maximized to the tumor and minimized to surrounding normal tissues.
High Dose Rate (HDR) – Web content coming soon - please call for more information.
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