Radiotherapy aims preserving intact organs and tissues at the region while eliminating cancer cell with radiation. Radiotherapy for cancer treatment is given in three ways.

– At a certain distance from body surface (External or known and used radiotherapy)
– On body surface (Brachytherapy or contact radiation)
– Inside the body (Internal or intraoperative radiotherapy)

Radiotherapy at dose of approximately 60 Gy (Radiotherapy X-ray) is necessary to eliminate cancer cell. However, intra-abdominal organs (small intestine, kidney, bile ducts) cannot tolerate this dose.
Therefore, conventional radiotherapy is given at smaller dose – 1.8 to 2 Gy per day – at fractions. Approximately 6 weeks are required for total dose.

For this reason, IORT has been developed to protect healthy tissue and organs during surgery. Single-dose of radiotherapy (10 Gy), which is given with this device, corresponds to dose of 70-80 Gy in conventional radiotherapy.

Differences Between IORT and Conventional Radiotherapy

– IORT is a type of radiotherapy, which involves delivering radiation beams during surgery. The aim is to radiate the tumor bed at location of the area that is considered to be partially excised.
This modality destructs the disease at microscopic level.
– Healthy organs and tissues are conserved.

Successful outcomes are now possible in tumors of stomach, pancreas, intestine, colon, breast, soft tissue, lung and pediatric and gynecological cancers thanks to IORT.

– For IORT (Intra-operative Radiotherapy), high-risk region is prepared for radiotherapy, after tumor is correctly excised. Surgeon retracts intra-abdominal organs under anesthesia and the dose is determined by the radiation oncologist, and next, the single-dose radiotherapy is applied. Incision is sutured and the surgery is terminated, after radiotherapy is completed.

– Standard radiotherapy requires 6-week therapy, including 5-day doses per week. However, IORT is completed in single dose.
This device improves quality of life since it eliminates side effects for the patients who are continuously given radiotherapy and medications.

– It poses intrinsic effects on the tumor bed.
– Tumor bed is directly radiated in clinically relapsed colorectal cancers.

Oncology is the branch of medicine concerned with conducting research and applications for cancer treatment. Radiation oncology is the use of the ionizing rays we call radiation in the treatment of cancer. This form of treatment began to be used after the discovery of X-rays in 1895; in recent years it has scored major achievements in cancer treatment in parallel with advances in computer technology and the development of modern radiotherapy equipment. The main principle of radiotherapy is to eradicate the cancer cells, or to stop their division and multiplication. Radiation treatment carries low risk and high benefits when it is applied with advanced technology and equipment, appropriate indications and applications. A fundamental objective of radiotherapy is to deliver sufficiently high dosages of radiation to kill the tumor while protecting surrounding healthy tissue as far as possible. Radiotherapy can be administered on its own, or in conjunction with chemotherapy in line with pre- and post-surgery protocols. Radiotherapy is required in the treatment of about 70% of cancer cases.

One of the factors affecting the success of radiotherapy is the kind of equipment and technology that is used. Our center uses the very latest technology in the form of the linear accelerator called the TrueBeam™ STx.

Cancer treatment with the TrueBeam™ STx imaging enables the rapid administration of exactly the required dose of radiation with close to 100% directional accuracy, giving maximum protection to surrounding tissue.

The TrueBeam™ STx’s synchronized motion tracking makes a big difference in the treatment of lung, breast, prostatic and spinal region cancers and is used in all cancer cases that require radiation treatment.

Another important feature is the ability of the device accurately and precisely to calculate the required dosage in the administration of radiation treatment. Acuros XB treatment planning software is being implemented at the Liv Hospital for the first time in Turkey, facilitating a much more accurate and rapid dosage calculation than other systems.

The Advantages of TrueBeam™ STx:

• Shortens the preparation time before the treatment of patients with advanced technology.
• Significantly shortens treatment times with high dose rate, precision and speed.
• Radiation applications that in other devices last 30-90 minutes can be completed in 5-20 minutes, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) can be performed in two to three minutes rather than the 10-20 minutes it takes using conventional equipment and technology.
• Due to the short duration of treatment, problems arising from the movement of the tumor are minimized.
• With all these advantages, the tumor is subject to targeted irradiation.
• Reduces the number of sessions.
• IMRT, IGRT, SRS / SBRT are amongst the advanced radiation therapy options offered on the same platform by this technology

Radiotherapy techniques performed by TrueBeam™ STx:

3D CRT is a three-dimensional imaging treatment planning method implemented after CT imaging and the multi-section drawing of tumor volume and critical organs. This treatment technique aims to deliver high dosage radiation at the targeted volume from multiple angles while delivering the lowest possible dose to surrounding normal tissue.