NEW YORK - Saint Vincents Comprehensive Cancer Center (SVCCC) has unveiled one of the world's most advanced technologies for treating cancer with precisely focused energy. Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is capable of delivering the most efficacious and sophisticated treatments in the fight against cancer. The first patients began IMRT treatment in April for tongue and prostate cancers.

IMRT is one of the greatest advances in radiation oncology since the introduction of the linear accelerator. A powerful computer evaluates millions of possible beam arrangements and determines a clinically optimized plan that is then evaluated by a team of physicians and physicists to determine the final treatment plan. This breakthrough technology uses real-time computer control for focusing higher doses of cancer-killing energy on tumors while sparing surrounding healthy tissue. Clinical studies indicate that IMRT techniques make it possible to use higher dose rates and result in significantly better patient outcomes.

SVCCC now offers the IMRT technology and expertise to deliver these improved results.

IMRT has certainly caught the attention of the professional community. In fact, beliefs about the potential of using this treatment modality to increase radiation doses to more effective levels are so strong that the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology (ASTRO) recently released this statement pertaining to the treatment of prostate cancer:

"Strong data show unequivocally that cure rates in cancer patients can be improved by 15-40 percent by increasing dosage from 72 Gy to 78 Gy. However, the majority of radiation oncology facilities in the US have neither the tools nor the know-how- to allow delivery of this higher dose. As a result, many potentially curable diseases may fail." - ASTRO-gram #133.