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A new type of therapy, now available at St. Mary's
Hospital of Blue Springs, can make a huge difference to cancer patients.
The high-tech treatment, Intensity Modulation Radiation Therapy
(IMRT), allows doctors to kill more cancer cells, while not hurting
healthy cells.
This new technology is one of the first of its kind
in eastern Jackson County and permits higher radiation doses to
the tumor site while decreasing doses to surrounding tissue and
organs that do not need treatment.
"It used to be that the amount of radiation used
in treatment was limited by how much the healthy area surrounding
the target could handle," says Daniel Keleti, MD, radiation
oncologist with St. Mary's Hospital. "The IMRT changes that
by allowing us to really target the tumor area."
"The IMRT is most useful for head, neck and prostate
cancer patients and those with brain tumors or those who need to
be retreated," says Dr. Keleti. "By controlling the doses
more easily, we can reduce side effects to the salivary glands in
head and neck cancer patients and side effects to the small bowel,
rectum and bladder for prostate cancer patients."
The IMRT in combination with the three-dimensional treatment
planning provides more targeted treatment of tumors. Three-dimensional
planning, which St. Mary's Hospital has been using for five years,
helps the radiation oncologist review a number of treatment scenarios
and select the optimal approach.
Dr. Keleti says the side effects of the IMRT therapy
are the same as conventional radiation therapy, but occur less frequent
and are usually not as severe.
For more information on the new technology, call the Radiation
Oncology Department at St. Mary's Hospital at 816-655-5592.
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