The Regional Cancer Center at Wellington is one of a select group of hospitals across the country now offering Novalis® Shaped Beam Surgery by BrainLAB, one of the most sophisticated radiation treatment systems available today.
- Cancerous or benign lesions that have started in the brain or spread to the brain.
- Arteriovenous malformations (a type of vascular disorder) of the brain.
- Functional brain disorders such as trigeminal neuralgia/tic douloureux.
- Relatively small tumors in other areas of the body, such as the head and neck, prostate liver, spine and breast.
- Tumors located so close to sensitive normal structures that it would be dangerous to treat the tumor with standard radiation techniques, such as tumors close to the spinal cord. This is exceptionally beneficial in situations where the region has been previously irradiated.
“Novalis is a major advancement in the treatment of tumors or lesions in delicate areas because of its ability to target tumors very precisely and shape the treatment beam, thus further protect healthy tissue. We are now able to take advantage of its accuracy to treat other areas of the body such as the lung, prostate, breast, liver and head and neck,” said Kishore Dass, M.D., Board Certified Radiation Oncologist.
The Novalis x-ray imaging and electronic detector panels allow immediate and extremely precise imaging of internal structures. This provides unprecedented levels of set-up accuracy. “We can now use image guidance to evaluate the movement of the lung or liver with respiration, and adjust the radiation beam to the movement of the tumor,” continued Dr. Dass.
Unlike other current radiation technologies which deliver the radiation dose through a fixed circular collimator, Novalis delivers the radiation dose through a Multi Leaf Collimator with movable leaves that tailor and precisely contour the beam to match the size and shape of the tumor from all angles, ensuring that the tumor receives the fully prescribed dose of radiation while at the same time protecting the surrounding normal tissue.
The Regional Cancer Center at Wellington provides comprehensive radiation therapy and follow-up care to thousands of patients each year. For more information about this exciting technology, call The Regional Cancer Center at Wellington at (561) 793-6500.
