Services
Radiation Oncology
What if you didn't have to have surgery?
What if you could attack the tumor and still preserve the healthy cells? That's the whole idea behind 3D Treatment Planning and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy. And if that sounds futuristic, it is.
Computers create 3D maps of the tumor locations so we know exactly where to focus the radiation. Then we control the beams so they only attack the diseased area. We maximize the treatment and minimize the side effects.
Another way to do this is to place radioactive materials in and around the tumors.
This outpatient treatment known as brachytherapy or "seed implantation" usually takes about an hour. And it is very effective against prostate cancer.
Our radiation patients also have access to clinical trials of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, a national cooperative funded by the National Cancer Institute.
Pin-Pointing Tumors with Trilogy®
When someone has been diagnosed with cancer, it is important for the patient to review all available treatment options with his or her healthcare team. At the Tate Cancer Center, we coordinate all of our resources, from the expertise of our medical team to the sophistication of our technology, around each individual. That’s why we’re introducing personalized cancer care on the Trilogy® System from Varian.
The Trilogy System provides powerful radiation cancer treatment technology capable of delivering all forms of external beam radiation therapy in one machine. This means that our physicians can offer patients every available treatment option.
Guided by three-dimensional images of the patient's anatomy, Trilogy® enables clinicians to position patients and deliver the radiation dose with pinpoint accuracy. The system allows for the treatment of a wide range of tumors, even in areas of the body that may move during treatment. Trilogy can also deliver radiotherapy doses at least 60 percent faster than conventional technologies, shortening the length of time patients need to spend undergoing treatment.
At the core of the Trilogy System is a high-powered medical linear accelerator, a machine that rotates around the patient to deliver radiotherapy treatments from virtually any angle. The system is able to concentrate radiation doses on the tumor while minimizing exposure of surrounding healthy tissue. This provides our team the tools to treat a broad range of cancers, such as those in the head and neck, breast, lung and prostate.
Trilogy combines imaging and treatment technologies, and can be used to deliver the widest range of external beam radiotherapies, including:
- Intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)
- Image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT)
- Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)
- Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT)
- RapidArc® radiotherapy
- Gated RapidArc® radiotherapy
Zapping cancer with GPS.
It's the same Global Positioning System you find in cars, boats and cell phones. But that's not all it can do. In 2009, The Tate Cancer Center became the first hospital in Maryland to offer the Calypso® 4D Localizing System™.
It's a precision guided, radiation therapy that uses continuous organ-motion detection to ensure only the tumors are destroyed. And it's a major advance in the fight against prostate cancer.
Three Beacon® electromagnetic transponders, each about the size of a grain of rice, are implanted in the patient's prostate prior to radiation therapy. Through the course of daily radiation treatments, the transponders allow specialists to constantly track the prostate and make the appropriate adjustments, crucial considering how organs move, even when a patient is completely still. For more information about the Calypso® 4D Localization System™, call 410-878-3087.
Radiation oncology services include:
- 3D treatment planning
- Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
- Brachytherapy or "seed implantation"
- Calypso® 4D Localization System™ or GPS for the Body®
Baltimore Washington Medical Center's cancer specialists, as well as those at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center in Baltimore, provide radiation oncology services at the Tate Cancer Center. For more information or to make an appointment, please call 410-553-8100.