At Pottstown Memorial Regional Cancer Center (PMRCC), patients with many forms of cancer, including breast and head and neck, are receiving treatment with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). IMRT is a precise, state-of-the-art method of radiation treatment that targets the disease more accurately, improves outcomes and decreases side effects.

“We use IMRT for all of our breast cancer patients, with the exception of anyone who has had a mastectomy or reconstructive surgery,” notes PMRCC radiation oncologist Suman Tiwari, MD. “The location of the breast and chest wall is in close proximity to critical normal structures, such as the heart and lung. IMRT gives a more evenly distributed or homogenous dose of radiation to the target and less to surrounding normal tissue or organs. It reduces the risk of side effects to the skin, breast and normal tissue,” notes Dr. Tiwari.

IMRT works by “wrapping dose around” the shape and location of the tumor or cancerous cells using computer-generated imaging to direct and deliver the radiation at different angles and dosing levels. The accuracy of this process, used before or after surgery, has resulted in better tumor control and overall outcomes. Because it minimizes radiation exposure to healthy tissue or organs, it decreases toxicity and side effects.

“IMRT makes caring for head and neck cancer patients much easier in the short and long term,” says Michael Lambo, MD, medical director of the division of radiation oncology at PMRCC. “It helps get patients completely through treatment with no breaks because of severe side effects, which is paramount to these patients. They do not have half of the same problems as they did in the past, for example, loss of saliva, severe sore throats and extreme mucositis,” says Dr. Lambo.

In addition to using advanced methods such as IMRT to treat cancer patients, PMRCC was the first cancer center in the region to use PET scans, a state-of-the-art imaging process, to plan the cancer treatment process.