For Immediate Release

Methodist Offers New Cancer Treatment System

TomoTherapy Radiation Treatment Comes to Central Illinois

Peoria, Illinois (April 15, 2008)--Methodist Medical Center is now providing cancer patients with access to one of the world’s most advanced cancer treatment systems. TomoTherapy is a new FDA approved method for integrating the delivery of real time CT-image guided radiation treatment (IGRT) and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).

Methodist began offering the new treatment option in January. TomoTherapy provides image guided radiation treatment to selectively destroy cancerous tumors while avoiding surrounding healthy tissue. This means more of the healthy tissue in a cancer patient is spared radiation damage or destruction.

While the TomoTherapy system is not for every cancer patient, it does provide new treatment options for cancer patients diagnosed with previously untreatable tumors. People with tumors in difficult to treat areas such as the spine, lung, throat or upper abdomen, now have the option of the new system because of its pinpoint accuracy.

TomoTherapy can also improve current prostate treatments by allowing doctors to treat the prostate at higher doses of radiation while reducing exposure to surrounding vital nearby areas.

TomoTherapy is the only system that uses an on-board CT capable of visualizing the treatment site in a three-dimensional (3D) image before each treatment to verify the position of the tumor and deliver a painless and precise radiation therapy based on a customized plan for each patient.

Cancerous tumors can change shape and location from day to day. With this new equipment, physicians can produce a 3D image before each treatment to verify the position of the tumor and make any needed changes before the radiation is administered.

The equipment used for TomoTherapy looks much like a computed Tomography (CT) machine. A patient lies on the machine bench, which moves continuously through a rotating ring. This ring is home to a linear accelerator, which delivers radiation in the shape of a fan beam while the right turns. With the bench moving at the same time as the rings rotates, the radiation beam is able to make a spiral patten around the patient, targeting tumors in the most precise and optimal way possible.