Radiation Oncology
The Foley Cancer Center offers patients needing radiation therapy the most advanced technology, combined with compassionate care, in a location that's convenient and close to home.
Installed in May of 2011, the Varian Trilogy linear accelerator is the latest in a new generation of cancer care systems. A versatile system optimized for multiple forms of treatment, from radiation therapy to radiosurgery, the Trilogy System significantly increases the number of patients able to receive treatment at Foley Cancer Center.
Advanced Radiation Oncology Care
With accuracy, precision and efficiency, the Varian Trilogy Linear Accelerator offers patients a number of important benefits:
- Highest radiation dose in shorter sessions
- Adjustment for tumor motion during treatment
- Targeted radiation that spares healthy tissue
- Treatment of a wide range of patients.
- Ability to target even the smallest lesions
Rutland Regional Medical Center’s full range of comprehensive radiation therapy services include:
- External Beam Therapy. High-energy x-ray beams are targeted to attack the tumor site. Commonly used to treat breast, colorectal, head and neck, lung, prostate and brain cancer, the procedure is also known as external radiation therapy.
- Electron Beam Therapy. A specialized treatment for skin cancer that delivers electron beams designed to attack skin lesions and penetrate just the superficial layer of the skin, sparing deep or healthy tissues.
- Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy or IMRT. The most precise, technologically advanced method for treating prostate, head and neck and central nervous system cancers, among others. Three-dimensional computer images and an advanced device called a multi-leaf collimator allow physicians to conform and shape radiation beams to match a tumor’s specific location, shape and size.
- RapidArc™ Technology. RapidArc is an advanced form of IMRT. However, unlike traditional IMRT machines that need to rotate and stop around a patient in several positions and be adjusted by a therapist, the RapidArc machine needs to make just one, continuous, 360-degree rotation. Among other benefits, receiving radiation in the quick, high-dose manner RapidArc provides helps reduce common side effects like skin damage.
- Image-Guided Radiation Therapy or IGRT. Combining regular x-ray imaging or cone beam CT scan, both located on the linear accelerator machine called on-board imaging allows therapists to make adjustments and more precisely locate cancer tumors. Rutland Regional was the first Vermont hospital to provide this treatment option to prostate cancer patients. It is also often used to treated tumors close to critical organs and tissues, but allows for precise localization of the tumor prior to treatment.
Most patients needing radiation treatment visit the center five days a week for several weeks to receive carefully measured doses of powerful radiation designed to shrink and destroy cancer tumors while sparing nearby healthy tissue.
