Accuray Incorporated has announced the first TomoTherapy® System in Latin America, specifically used for the treatment of breast cancer, is now active at FUCAM (Fundacion de Cancer de Mama), Mexico City.
Since the novel radiation therapy system has been activated (roughly two months ago), more than 120 women have already benefit from this technology.
“We’re honored that FUCAM selected the TomoTherapy System as their ‘radiation therapy system of choice’ to help them achieve their goal of offering breast cancer treatment to all women, regardless of their income,” Joshua H. Levine, president and chief executive officer of Accuray, said in a news release. “The system offers unique advantages in the treatment of breast cancer including the ability to deliver precise radiation dose to any tumor or tumor bed, during every treatment, while minimizing dose to organs at risk. This is especially important for women diagnosed with cancer in the left breast, where the tumor may be close to critical organs such as the heart.”
The TomoTherapy System is a unique radiation system specifically designed for image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), a precise technique of external beam radiation that uses computer-generated images of the tumor to determine the size, shape, and location of the area that needs treatment.
Moreover, this device includes a helical tomotherapy mode, which is a type of IMRT where the radiation aimed at the tumor forms a spiral pattern, while the patient lays on a table that is moved through a machine.
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During IMRT-HT treatments, thousands of thin radiation beams that can be programmed to different intensities and angles are aimed at the tumor, and because the radiation is so precisely controlled, IMRT-HT can spare nearby healthy tissues, resulting in fewer side effects than normal external beam radiation.
“We (FUCAM) are a reference center for breast cancer patients, receiving about 1,000 new cases per year, so it was critical that we select a versatile and efficient radiation therapy system capable of delivering both hypofractionated and non-hypofractionated treatments to address a variety of patient needs,” Dr. Judith Huerta Bahena, head of radiotherapy, Institute of Diseases of the Breast, FUCAM, added. “We considered TomoTherapy to be the ideal system for us based on recent studies demonstrating the system provides superior dose homogeneity with a lower dose to normal tissue, when compared to conventional treatments.”
About ten years ago, my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. She eventually overcame the cancer, but the recovery was long and arduous. It is cool to see that better treatment options are coming out. TomoTherapy seems like a cool way to focus in on the cancer without causing too much problems everywhere else. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for reading our news and we are glad we could be of help with useful information! We also have a site specifically focused on breast cancer: https://breastcancer-news.com/
Thank you!