TomoTherapy – Revolutionary Cancer Therapy

Designed for you.

The TomoTherapy System^TM is a revolutionary way to treat cancer with radiation. With TomoTherapy, physicians can check the location of your tumor before each treatment, then deliver painless and precise radiation therapy based on a carefully customized plan. TomoTherapy combines precise 3D imaging from computerized tomography (CT scanning) with highly targeted radiation beams.

TomoTherapy - Different from the rest.

The TomoTherapy System introduces the two-step process:

Tomo-Graphy – The therapist takes a verification CT image (VRCT) before each treatment to make sure TomoTherapy treatment is targeted to the exact location of your tumor. Some types of tumors can change shape or even shift from day-to-day. With TomoTherapy's VRCT, the physician can be sure that each treatment is where it should be for each treatment delivery.

TomoTherapy – The TomoTherapy System uses a rotating beam of radiation that is constantly modulated to target the exact size and shape of your cancer. During treatment, the TomoTherapy System can focus radiation on the tumor area while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.

Before Each Treatment

Before each treatment, the therapist takes a VRCT image of the treatment site to check its exact size, shape, and most importantly, location. Because physicians can more accurately locate the tumor with the TomoTherapy System, they can reduce the amount of radiation that healthy tissues receive while concentrating the radiation where it is needed most - at the tumor site.

During Each Treatment

During treatment, the radiation rotates 360 degrees, while the couch moves through the TomoTherapy machine. While conventional radiotherapy delivers a wide beam of radiation from just a few directions, the TomoTherapy System can deliver small beamlets of radiation from every point on a spiral. The rotating TomoTherapy beam can accurately shape the radiation as prescribed by the physician and can treat both large tumors and multiple sites at the same time.

“TomoTherapy provides the best radiation treatment for certain cancers, especially head and neck, prostate, and gynecologic cancers, where we need to precisely target the tumor and limit dose to the adjacent critical organs (parotid gland, rectum, bladder and small bowel). This can lead to a significant reduction of side effects,” said Wook Lee, MD, Radiation Oncologist, Hall-Perrine Cancer Center.

“TomoTherapy is an incredibly effective weapon when we need to retreat an area adjacent to a previously treated organ. No other system can do it as well,” said Kevin Murray, MD, Radiation Oncologist, Hall-Perrine Cancer Center.

TomoTherapy is the most advanced radiation delivery system available, delivering precise radiation to tumors while minimizing damage to surrounding tissues. The TomoTherapy system is only available at the Hall-Perrine Cancer Center.

Read frequently asked questions about radiation therapy.