ANSWERED by Dr. Shawn Zimberg of Advanced Radiation Centers
Radiation Therapy is a treatment for cancer that typically involves the use of "high-energy" x-rays, ("photons"), although other types of radiation particles such as electrons and protons can also be used. Whereas the energy of radiation used in diagnostic radiology (such as those use to see your bones) are in the kilo-volt range, radiation used in the treatment of cancer is in the mega-volt range, capable of destroying malignant tissues.
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How does Radiation Therapy work?
ANSWERED by Dr. Shawn Zimberg of Advanced Radiation Centers
Radiation attacks the DNA of prostate cancer cells. Have you ever wound a rubber band over and over again, into a tight, knotted and curled form? The DNA molecules in every cell in the body (both normal and cancer) are wound just like that, and when unwound, resemble an extremely long ladder, with very sensitive, fragile chemical bonds joining each side of that ladder. Radiation is capable of damaging those bonds causing them to break, which in turn can render the cell unable to reproduce. This effectively kills the cell.
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I understand that radiation attacks the cancer?s DNA, but doesn?t the DNA of nor
ANSWERED by Dr. Shawn Zimberg of Advanced Radiation Centers
When radiation hits the body, both the normal cells and cancer cells can sustain DNA damage. Each cell has special enzymes that function as a "repair crew" that can fix the damage in our normal cells, but these repair enzymes don’t work very well in the cancer cells and therefore they cannot repair this damage. It’s as if the cancer cells are more concerned with multiplying, and less concerned with keeping themselves healthy. By bombarding the cells with small amounts of radiation on a daily basis - the normal cells can repair any damage they may suffer by the next day of radiation, but the cancer cells poor ability to do so, eventually renders them dead.
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What is the prostate?
ANSWERED by Dr. Shawn Zimberg of Advanced Radiation Centers
The prostate is a gland found in males that is part of the genitourinary system (that also includes the bladder, kidney and testis). It is located in the pelvis, just below and behind the bladder, and just in front of the rectum. The prostate is located at the "neck" of the bladder, where it funnels down and becomes the urethra, which runs through the prostate. The prostate is a single gland, but it does have a right and left side, or lobe. The prostate tissue is surrounded by a thin membrane, or capsule.
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What is Prostate Brachytherapy (Radioactive Seed Implants)?
ANSWERED by Dr. Shawn Zimberg of Advanced Radiation Centers
The term ‘brachytherapy’ means ‘slow’ or ‘close’ therapy. It is used to describe giving radiation delivered via implantation of radiation seeds. This form of therapy delivers photon radiation from the "inside-out", as opposed to IMRT/IGRT that delivers radiation from the "outside-in". Seed implants are an effective therapy for treating early stage prostate cancer. In the earliest stages, seeds are equally as effective as IGRT or radical prostatectomy.
Advanced Radiation Center’s Radiation Oncologists are experts in this surgical procedure, having performed nearly a thousand seed implantation cases in the last decade.
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What Types of Radiation are used to Treat Breast Cancer?
ANSWERED by Dr. Shawn Zimberg of Advanced Radiation Centers
Radiation is typically given after a patient has had a lumpectomy to sterilize or "mop-up" any stray cells that may be left behind after the surgery. Radiation can be given using external beam radiation for approximately 30 sessions, with technologies such as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) causing less radiation d to the lungs and heart. Partial Breast Irradiation ("PBI") is a form of brachytherapy that uses a temporary balloon catheter that is placed within the lumpectomy cavity. This treatment has the advantage of decreasing treatment time to just 5 days.
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What is Stereotactic Radiosurgery?
ANSWERED by Dr. Shawn Zimberg of Advanced Radiation Centers
Stereotactic Radiosurgery ("SRS") is a technique that uses very small and highly directed radiation beams to target brain cancers and tumors in the spine. The precision of SRS treatments with TRILOGY is unmatched, allowing cancer-destroying doses of radiation to hit a tumor within the brain, while leaving normal brain tissue right next to it virtually untouched. SRS can also be used to target other areas of the body as well.
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