Radiation Oncology, Ahmedabad

The Department of Radiation Oncology at Sterling Cancer Hospital, Ahmedabad is a state-of-the-art unit with the latest technology, ultra-new infrastructure and an experienced team of experts.

This technology involves the use of high-energy radiation beams to destroy the cancerous cells. Either, it directly destroys the cancer cells by damaging the DNA or creates charged particles, which in turn damages the DNA of the cancerous cells.

FEATURES & BENEFITS:

• India’s most advanced TrueBeam™ STx machine from Varian
• Equipped with advanced techniques- IGRT, RapidArc, IMRT, SBRT and SRS.
• Precise and Accurate Tumour Targeting with Perfect Pitch 6D.
• Less damage to healthy organ and reduced side effects with HD Treatment
• Fast treatment time for patient comfort.
• Precise Tumour Motion Tracking for reduced radiation to healthy  tissue (RPM Gating).
• Supported by a team of experienced radiation oncologists, medical physicists and technologists
• Works in close coordination with surgical and medical oncologists            

TECHNOLOGIES OFFERED:

Stereotactic Radiation:

At Sterling Hospitals, we utilize this procedure to deliver precisely large radiation doses to tumours and other relevant anatomical targets in one-to-five treatment cycles while minimizing the exposure to surrounding healthy tissues. It can be of the following types:

• Stereotactic Radio Surgery (SRS): This technology is used specially for brain cancers. SRS uses single dose high radiation in one-day session. It delivers precisely targeted radiation beams at higher dose than conventional radiation therapy.
• Stereotactic Radio Therapy (SRT):  We use this technology to deliver fractionated stereotactic treatment for brain cancers equally distributed between 1and 5 single doses.
• Stereotactic Body Radio Surgery (SBRS): This technology uses a single-high dose radiation in one session for tumours other than brain and spinal cord tumours. It helps in targeting small and difficult to target tumours since they are more likely to move depending upon the normal body movement.
• Stereotactic Body Radio Therapy (SBRT): This technology uses fractionated stereotactic treatment for tumours other than the brain and spinal cord.

Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT)

IGRT goes a step further than IMRT and Rapid Arc. As part of this technology, we make use of various biological and anatomical imaging techniques, which are integrated into the radiation therapy process. The overall goal of IGRT is to target tumours more accurately and precisely without harming normal tissue.

Rapid Arc

We also make use of Rapid Arc, which is an advanced technology delivering intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with speed and precision by modulating multiple parameters like dose rate, gantry speed, MLC speed, MLC position, jaw tracking, and such. It shortens treatment times to half to that of the conventional radiation process while enhancing the therapeutic outcome.  So the benefits include less time for treatment, reduction in actual radiation dose, more convenience for patients and preservation of more healthy tissues

Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT)                                      

Also known as “Organ Sparing” treatment, IMRT minimizes the damage to adjacent healthy tissue. It allows the oncologist to deliver radiation to a tumour with more precision and accuracy, resulting in the potential for fewer side effects and higher cure rates.

4D Respiratory Motion Gated Radiotherapy

At Sterling Hospitals, we also make use of this highly advanced technique that increases the treatment accuracy of IMRT and Rapid Arc in specific cases such as abdominal and thoracic cancers.  Here, the position of the tumour site may vary depending upon the respiratory rhythm. This displacement could be up to 2-3 cm. Using RPM, the tumour can be treated more precisely without much damage to the surrounding tissues. In short, it synchronizes patient’s own respiratory rhythm so that radiation is delivered when the tumour is within the treatment field and hence minimizes the damage to the surrounding and other vital tissues. 

4D Respiratory Motion Gating - CT

In this technique, a CT image is taken in 4D in sync with the patient’s breathing pattern and the image is used to track the movement of the tumours and for tumour delineation using advanced intensity projection software.

Brachytherapy

Brachytherapy is a word that is derived from the Greek words ‘brachys’, which means brief or short. This refers to cancer treatment in which ionizing radiation is delivered via a radioactive material placed a short distance from or within the tumour itself, thereby giving a high radiation dose to the tumour while reducing the radiation exposure to the surrounding healthy tissues.  This treatment technique is commonly used for gynaecological, prostate, head and neck, oesophagus, endobiliary, endobronchial, breast and soft tissue sarcoma.