Comprehensive Treatment Planning
At Radiation Oncology Centers (ROC), treatment planning for patients is performed by an expert team with access to the most sophisticated technologies available. Using imaging, localization, simulation, 2-D and 3-D planning, 3-D conformal external beam planning, implant therapy planning, and inverse treatment planning for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), our board-certified physicians can expedite caring, effective treatment programs that offer you the best possible outcome from your radiation therapy.

Computed tomography (CT) simulation has become the standard for advanced therapy planning and simulation. The accuracy derived from CT simulation is the basis for today’s advanced conformal therapy techniques, including IMRT, inverse treatment planning and gamma knife radiosurgery.

The ROC applies the industry’s most advanced 3-D CT simulation systems to meet the requirements of conformal and high-precision radiotherapy planning. Our high-performance CT scanner equipped with a localization package, patient positioning system and virtual simulation software yields near real-time digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRRs) and visualization of patient anatomy with the highest accuracy available.

The ROC’s advanced treatment planning system helps ease the complexity of planning radiation therapy programs with even the most advanced processes, including IMRT and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). The treatment planning system helps dosimetrists, physicists and physicians to efficiently create, optimize and verify the best treatment plans, individualized for you and our other patients.

Advanced treatment planning must consider and respond to three key questions:

• Where is the tumor?
• What is the extent of the disease?
• Which functional areas of the body must be protected from radiation treatment?

At Radiation Oncology Centers, we employ technological advances in medical imaging that enable us to create images of the human body and its internal structures with unprecedented resolution and realism.

Image fusion using CT, PET, MRI and nuclear medicine
CT, PET, MRI, and nuclear medicine are four distinct technologies that generate images of the internal structures and organs of a patient. These four technologies yield complementary information about the location, physiology and physical properties of diseased or injured tissue and the surrounding healthy organs.

PET / CT
CT reveals bones very well, which help in positioning the patient. CT also generates physical data necessary for calculation of suitable radiation dosage. Physicians delineate certain types of tumors and some healthy tissues on a CT scan, but sometimes rely on MRI or PET to evaluate other types of tumors or organs. MRI helps with soft-tissue visualization, while PET can locate regions where sugar is being preferentially metabolized, such as in tumors.

CT, MRI, PET and other imaging devices can quickly acquire 3D images, which can be further computed to merge into a single volume that combines the information from all modalities. Using all that consolidated information enables the most informed, advanced planning for precisely where and how radiation dosages should be delivered.

2-D and 3-D conformal treatment planning
Radiation Oncology Centers (ROC) perform three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3-D CRT), a specialized cancer treatment technology that shapes radiation beams to conform to the shape of the targeted tumor. Computed tomography (CT) imaging is used to develop a three-dimensional treatment plan that guides the design of a pattern of radiation beams conforming to the anatomy of the patient. A high-energy linear accelerator delivers the radiation in the prescribed pattern from several different directions.

The highly defined pattern enables the ROC radiation oncologist to focus the necessary amount of radiation to the cancer site while shielding normal tissues, thereby decreasing the risk of side effects and complications. Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy is particularly useful in treating cancers that are adjacent to vital structures or near organs that are sensitive to the effects of radiation.