V E TE R AN S AFFAI R S & M I LITARY M E D I CI N E O UTLO O K
SPONSORED BY ELEKTA
CANCER PATIENTS AT SOUTH TEXAS VETERANS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM RECEIVE ENHANCED TREATMENTS WITH CENTER’S ADVANCED LINEAR ACCELERATOR Integrated Imaging Technology Helps Clinicians See What They Treat.
n DECEMBER 2016 MARKED THE BEGINNING of a new era of radiation therapy at South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS), which began treating patients with its new Elekta radiation therapy system (Versa HD). The linear accelerator – which replaced two aging radiotherapy systems and recently completed its second full year of service – has markedly improved treatment speed and accuracy, according to William E. Jones, III, MD, Chief of Radiation Oncology at STVHCS. “One of the most significant advantages of the new system over the two previous systems is the integrated cone beam CT [CBCT] imaging technology,” he noted. “With the patient on the table, we can do a ‘mini-CT’ right then and there,
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which enables us to see if the organs have moved since planning. For example, the bowel contents of a prostate cancer patient may have caused the prostate to shift forward. Being able to see the target every day and correct for this motion is a huge change for us. “We’re delivering with more confidence and greater precision using CBCT,” he added. “So, we have gradually progressed to using smaller treatment margins around the tumor. That means a minimal amount of healthy tissue surrounding the tumor is exposed to the treatment radiation.” STVHCS’ lung cancer patients have also benefited from the new system’s imaging capabilities, specifically, the new
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PHOTO COURTESY OF ELEKTA
By Jerry Duncan
