Image Guided Radiation Therapy

Went in for my psa today (low) and had an interesting tour of my rad.
onc's new wing in their building. They invested $2.5 million is a new
machine which, as he explained it, combines IMRT with a Cat Scan. The
Cat Scan can locate the exact location of the prostate in real time at
the time of treatment (we all know that it moves constantly in
relation the position of the colon) while the IMRT can nuke it with
such precision that it can actually concentrate on the exact areas
where positive biopsy cores were detected.

As a result, damage to the colon and rectum, and ED side effects,
while not entirely eliminated, are reduced even further.

He directed me to this website (not his, BTW) for an illustration and
explanation of how it works.

http://www.igrt.com/external_beam.asp#4

Too late for me :-( but not for new patients :-)

Doug Taylor wrote:
> Went in for my psa today (low)

Congrats on the low PSA.

>They invested $2.5 million is a new
> machine which, as he explained it, combines IMRT with a Cat Scan. The
> Cat Scan can locate the exact location of the prostate in real time at
> the time of treatment (we all know that it moves constantly in
> relation the position of the colon) while the IMRT can nuke it with
> such precision that it can actually concentrate on the exact areas
> where positive biopsy cores were detected.
>

My doc is really into the newest stuff. They are using a similar system
called AccuLoc.

http://www.nmpe.com/acculoc.aspx

They put three gold seeds in with the other 110 iodine seeds. The linac
can see the gold seeds. It gives the coordinates of the seeds that are
put into a computer. Then, the computer moves the bed up, down or
sideways to position the beam exactly where the CT simulation was
positioned.

John

On November 10, Doug Taylor wrote:

(snip)
> As a result, damage to the colon and rectum, and ED side effects,
> while not entirely eliminated, are reduced even further.
>
> He directed me to this website (not his, BTW) for an illustration and
> explanation of how it works.
>
> http://www.igrt.com/external_beam.asp#4
>
> Too late for me :-( but not for new patients :-)
>
Too late for me, too (IMRT with adjuvant ADT). But a friend had salvage
IGRT done recently after RP debulked his high-risk PCa, which had spread
to his bladder neck and local lymph nodes. He's also on adjuvant ADT.

Doing well, PSA <0.01 ng/mL SEs minimal.

Of course, this is anecdotal and must not be considered to be predictive
of anyone's result.

He's pleased; so am I, 'cuz I'm the one who referred him to the rad onc.
If it hadn't worked out, I would have had to fall on my sword.

Regards,

Steve J