Hoag Breast Care Center

Radiation Therapy

Hoag’s Radiation Oncology department encompasses the entire first floor of Hoag Cancer Center, where its dedicated team of medical experts utilizes the latest in state-of-the-art technologies to treat more than 100 patients each day.

The Radiation Oncology Team consists of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, medial dosimetrists, radiation oncology nurses, radiation therapists and support staff, each dedicated to providing excellence in patient-centered care.

Hoag Radiation Oncology offers a wide variety of innovative treatment options using state-of-the-art equipment. The breadth of treatment options offered allows the Radiation Oncologist to select the specific treatment type, which is best suited to each patient’s particular medical needs.

• Intraoperative Radiation Therapy
• Mammosite®
• 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy

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Intraoperative Radiation Therapy

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Mammosite

Mammosite® Brachytherapy is a treatment option offered to selected early stage breast cancer patients in conjunction with a lumpectomy. This treatment option uses a Iridium-192 radioactive source, which delivers radiation to the lumpectomy cavity. At the time of the lumpectomy or shortly after, the surgeon will place a catheter into the cavity, which is used as the vehicle for the radioactive source. This treatment is delivered two times per day for five days.

Using this method, a concentrated dose of radiation is delivered only to the lumpectomy site and immediately adjacent tissues. The catheter is removed in about a week, and the radiation is complete. This provides a more rapid method of radiation therapy with fewer side effects.

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3D Conformal Radiation Therapy

In the past, radiation oncologists could only plan using two dimensions (width and length), due to the limitations in imaging technology. With current advanced imaging and computer technology, radiation oncologists can plan treatment in three dimensions (width, height and depth). This process is known as 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy (3DCRT).

The process starts with a CT scan, which gives a three dimensional picture of the patient’s body, including the tumor to be treated as well as all normal anatomy. This picture may be supplemented with additional information from other 3D images such as PET or MRI scans. Using this picture as a map of the body, the radiation oncologist identifies a target to be treated and any sensitive healthy tissue that needs to be avoided. The radiation oncology team then uses powerful computers to design a radiation plan with multiple beams aimed at the target. Each beam is shaped to deliver the maximum dose possible to the target, while avoiding surrounding sensitive structures. Thus, the radiation “conforms” to the target volume.

3DCRT can be very useful when a tumor is close to a sensitive normal structure. (For example, a lung cancer close to the spinal cord.) The added precision of 3DCRT allows the radiation oncologist to give more dose to the tumor while limiting exposure of normal tissue to safe levels.

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