LAKE COUNTY’S MOST POWERFUL CANCER FIGHTER

New technology at Florida Hospital Waterman expands radiation oncology treatment for some of the most challenging cases while also reducing treatment time for some patients.

In a promising development for cancer patients in Lake County, Florida Hospital Waterman has acquired the TrueBeam Radiotherapy System from Varian Medical systems. The innovative system enables a radically different approach to treating cancer with image-guided radiotherapy, and it is the newest and most advanced technology of its kind in Central Florida.

The TrueBeam system was engineered from the ground up to deliver more powerful cancer treatments with pinpoint accuracy and precision. It uniquely integrates new imaging and motion management technologies that make it possible to deliver treatments quickly while monitoring and compensating for tumor motion.

“TrueBeam is a real game changer that will enable us to treat even the most challenging cases with unprecedented speed and precision,” said Director Rick Golab, of the Florida Hospital Waterman Cancer Institute. “With a wide range of new capabilities, TrueBeam breaks the mold in just about every dimension, making it possible for us to offer faster, more targeted treatments to tumors even as they move and change over time.”

Faster Treatments

With dose delivery rates that are 40 to 140 percent higher than earlier generations of Varian technology, the TrueBeam system completes a treatment commensurately faster. This means greater patient comfort by shortening treatments and improving precision by leaving less time for tumor motion during dose delivery. “Intelligent” automation further speeds treatments with an up to fivefold reduction in the number of steps needed for image guidance and dose delivery.

Simple treatments that once took 15 minutes or more are completed in less than two once the patient is in position. “With radiation oncology, every step we take to make the treatment more accurate will help reduce radiation to surrounding tissues and ultimately reduce side effects to the patient,” said Anudh Jain, M.D., radiation oncologist, Florida Hospital Waterman Cancer Institute. “Patients spend a whole lot less time lying still, immobilized on a hard surface.”

Enhanced Precision

The precision of the TrueBeam system is measured in increments of less than a millimeter. This accuracy is made possible by the system’s sophisticated architecture, which synchronizes imaging, patient positioning, motion management, beam shaping, and dose delivery, performing accuracy checks every 10 milliseconds throughout the entire treatment. Critical data points are measured continually as a treatment progresses, ensuring the system maintains a “true isocenter,” or focal point of treatment.

For lung and other tumors subject to respiratory motion, TrueBeam offers gated RapidArc® radiotherapy, which makes it possible to monitor patient breathing and compensate for tumor motion while quickly delivering a dose during a continuous rotation around the patient. According the American Cancer Society, during the past decade, lung cancer has become the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States. With TrueBeam, Dr. Jain explains that radiation can be delivered to a moving lung tumor as if it were standing still. “We expect this to make a meaningful difference for lung cancer patients in the area,” he says.

Faster Imaging at Lower Doses

TrueBeam imaging technology produces three-dimensional images used to finetune tumor targeting in 60 percent less time. Additional functionality makes it possible to create images using 25 percent less X-ray dose.

TrueBeam can be used for radiotherapy treatments including image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery (IGRT and IGRS), intensity-modulated radiotherapy

(IMRT), RapidArc® radiotherapy and gated RapidArc.

“With TrueBeam, we can select the optimal treatment for every type of cancer,” Dr. Jain says. “Investment in this equipment demonstrates Florida Hospital Waterman Cancer Institute’s commitment to providing Lake County residents with the most advanced cancer care close to home.”

Central Florida’s Leading Cancer Institute

The radiation oncology team at the Florida Hospital Waterman Cancer Institute, led by radiation oncologist Anduh Jain, MD, has more than three decades of combined experience helping patients navigate the road to survivorship. As part of the Florida

Hospital Cancer Institute, with more than 10 locations and 12 radiation oncologists throughout Central Florida, patients have access to a wide range of experts that have trained at some of the nation’s most prestigious and renowned cancer centers. In addition to radiation oncology services, The Florida Hospital Waterman Cancer Institute offers medical oncology and hematology services through an exclusive partnership with Florida Cancer Specialists, the state’s largest cancer care provider. This means the most advanced technology and most experienced physicians are providing leading-edge care right here in Lake County.

“We are the area’s only comprehensive cancer center providing this level of care to our community,” said David Ottati, president and chief executive officer,

Florida Hospital Waterman. “Our new TrueBeam Linear Accelerator enables us to battle cancer with state-of-the art technology while ensuring our patients receive compassionate care and also have access to support groups and patient navigator services. This investment, coupled with our other outstanding programs and services, means there should be very few times patients need to leave this community for advanced cancer care.” FOR

4000 Waterman Way

Tavares, FL 32778

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