Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is one of several advanced treatment options used to battle cancer. Lancaster General Health is the first hospital in the county to offer this state-of-the-art radiation treatment. We use IMRT to treat:
- Prostate cancer
- Metastatic brain tumors
- Primary brain tumors
- Pancreatic tumors
- Liver tumors
- Breast cancer
- Head & neck cancer
- Lung cancer
Precise radiation targets tumors
Delivered via a linear accelerator or via TomoTherapy® Hi•Art® technology, IMRT uses very precise external radiation, which can be broken down into tiny, pencil-thin beams with millimeter accuracy. This enables our team of doctors, radiation physicists and dosimetrists to conform a high dose of radiation to the specific tumor size and shape, while protecting healthy tissue.
What to expect
The first step is an evaluation and development of a complex, computer-generated treatment plan that addresses the location and size of the tumor as well as the surrounding organs and tissue. Then, patients undergo multiple treatment sessions—as many as five treatments a week for about seven to eight weeks.