June 11, 2009 – Nashville, Tenn. – Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center has opened a new radiation oncology treatment suite featuring TX radiosurgery, technology that provides more precise targeting of tumors and faster delivery of the correct dose of radiation for cancer patients. Vanderbilt-Ingram’s new TX radiosurgery unit is the first of its kind in Middle Tennessee.
“Here at Vanderbilt we are in the forefront of delivering stereotactic or more focused radiation,” said Arnold Malcolm, M.D., interim chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology. “We also are looking at hypofractionated radiation, which means giving a curative dose in a shorter period of time without damaging normal tissues.”
The new technology delivers an accelerated radiation dose much faster than before. A treatment that previously required an hour and a half can now be done in as little as five to 20 minutes.
The new Novalis TX radiosurgery system, developed by Varian Medical Systems and BrainLAB, Inc., has several advantages over existing technology, according to Malcolm.
“A standard accelerator table goes up and down or left and right. The TX unit has six degrees of motion, which is double the current range, and it gives us yaw and pitch movement,” said Malcolm. “When you can turn the table to all of these different angles you are essentially using the table to bend the beam the way you want it.”
The machine also is connected to infrared sensors. Technicians place infrared markers on the patient, line up the patient to those markers and the machine will precisely target the infrared markers. The delivery of radiation is so precise it can target tissue less than a millimeter in size.
“When we talk about clinical accuracy, we’re trying to limit as much as possible the amount of adjacent tissue that we have to treat while treating the tumor and that is key to a cure without toxicity,” said Malcolm.
Precision and speed are especially important when a tumor is located in the prostate, liver or other organ that moves. Even breathing can cause the targeted tumor to move, taking the targeted tissue out of treatment range and exposing healthy tissue to unnecessary radiation.
“With other machines, technicians have to keep stopping the treatment because they’re tracking that,” explained Malcolm. “With this machine, treatment is so quick and precise that movement isn’t such an issue.”
For certain types of tumors, such as brain or head and neck, physicians have a choice of connecting a patient’s head to a frame, which is invasive, or using a frameless technology.
“Vanderbilt has made a tremendous investment for our patients with brain and spine tumors with the installation of the new Novalis TX image-guided radiosurgery system,” said Reid Thompson, M.D., professor and vice chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery. Thompson is the director of the Vanderbilt Brain Tumor Center.
“This leading edge technology is a major breakthrough and allows neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists the ability to precisely and non-invasively guide a narrow beam of radiation directly to the tumor. With this exceptional technology we can safely treat patients with surgical precision—without an incision. This is especially important for patients with tumors located near vital structures in the brain and spinal cord, where traditional surgery might not be possible.”
The new technology also has Internet interface, allowing physicians to see the technical treatment plan while away from the Cancer Center.
“This is a significant investment on Vanderbilt’s part and it indicates we will continue to be innovative, not only in clinical treatment of patients, but also in research so we can contribute to improvements for our own patients as well as those around the country,” said Malcolm.
The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of two centers in Tennessee and 40 in the country to earn this highest distinction. Its nearly 300 faculty members generate more than $140 million in annual federal research funding, ranking it among the top 10 centers in the country in competitive grant support, and its clinical program sees approximately 4,000 new cancer patients each year. Vanderbilt-Ingram, based in Nashville, Tenn., recently joined with 21 of the world’s leading centers in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a non-profit alliance dedicated to improving cancer care for patients everywhere.
