Precise Radiation for Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men, but treating it with traditional radiation therapy can be difficult. Older radiation delivery methods expose nearby healthy organs to damage.

However, state-of-the-art intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) harnesses powerful computer technology to precisely focus beams on cancerous tissue. IMRT delivers higher doses of radiation to prostate tumors while sparing nearby healthy tissue. For example, one study compared IMRT to traditional radiation therapy and found that the higher dose rates delivered by IMRT significantly improved the rate of localized tumor control while reducing the incidence of rectal bleeding from 10 percent to 2 percent of patients.*

* Zelefsky MJ, Chan H, Hunt M, et al, Long-term outcome of high dose intensity modulated radiation therapy for patients with clinically localized prostate cancer, Journal of Urology, 2006 Oct;172(4 Pt 1):1415-9.