Radiation Oncology

Radiation Oncology High End Linear Accelerator by ELEKTA treatment Unit facilitates the administration of high precision radiation therapy targeted at the cancer bearing tissues with minimal collateral damage to adjoining healthy tissues reducing the potential side-effects of radiation. 

One of the three pillars in the treatment of cancer is Radiotherapy. Radiotherapy involves the use of ionizing radiation in an attempt to either cure or improve the symptoms of cancer. The Radiation Oncology Department in Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Cancer Hospital, Kolkata is proud to have state-of-the-art linear accelerator, Elekta Synergy. It is capable of performing all the high end treatments like intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) .

We are the pioneer in the city to providing the SGRT (Surface Guided Radiation Therapy) facility to the cancer patients and promoting the presicion treatment. 

There is facility for brachytherapy for all sites in the form of remote after loading high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy system with a 3D planning facility.The department works in close coordination with surgical oncology,medical oncology and other ancillary services.

We do have a tumor-board facility in which eminent doctors from all the branches e.g. surgical oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, radiology, pathology etc. discuss all cases and chalk out the best possible treatment plan according to evidence-based medicine for a particular patient.

Facilities:

1. External beam radiotherapy (EBRT)

• 2-dimensional conventional radiotherapy: 2-4 field treatment using linear accelerator. All patients undergo CT-based planning

• 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT): It takes into account axial anatomy and complex tissue contours. The radiotherapy plans conform to the 3-dimensional shape of the tumor using multi-leaf collimators, thereby reducing the dose to surrounding normal structures.

• Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT): This is a specialised form of 3 D conformal radiotherapy. As the name implies, intensity-modulated radiation allows us to modulate the intensity of each radiation beam which is divided into thousands of beamlets, so each field may have one or many areas of high intensity radiation and any number of lower intensity areas within the same field, thus allowing for greater control of the dose distribution with the target. This achieves maximum dose envelop to the tumour sparing the surrounding normal structures.

• Image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT): IGRT is a step forward of IMRT in which various biological and anatomical imaging techniques are integrated into the radiation therapy process. The overall goal of IGRT is to target tumors more accurately while better sparing the normal tissues. Our machines have on board CT scanner with kV imaging facility capable of online and offline matching of planned image with treatment image accurately.

• Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT): Radiation machine rotates around the patient in single or series of arcs and also the shape and intensity of the beam changes as the machine rotates. A single treatment can be completed in 2-3 minutes time in this technique.

• Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT): Stereotactic body radiotherapy is a highly precise form of radiation therapy used primarily to treat tumors of the extracranial sites e.g. lung, prostate, spine etc. The technique uses highly focused x-rays to treat certain types of tumors, inoperable lesions and as an ablative treatment for metastatic lesions.The treatment involves the delivery of a high-dose of radiation beams that converge on the specific area of the extracranial site where the tumor resides.

Brachytherapy

• Intracavitary

• Interstitial

• Vaginal

• Intraluminal

• Surface mould

Specification of our Machine:

• State-of-the-art linear accelerator Elekta Synergy with triple energy and agility head.

• 3 photon energies- 6MV, 10 MV & 15MV

• 6 electron energies

• VMAT technique- treatment completed in 2 minutes

• Facility of SBRT for lung, prostate, liver and spinal tumours

• Ultimate precision with CBCT (kV) imaging prior to daily treatment.

• Agility Head

• SGRT Facility