Innovation in Total-Body Radiation

The new technology was presented at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology meeting in Boston (USA).

Patients with blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, who undergo a bone marrow transplant currently receive both chemotherapy and full-body radiation to rid the body of cancer cells. However, the treatment is extremely uncomfortable. Patients must stand up for a long time, draped with heavy backpack-shaped shields to protect the lungs from radiation emitted by a linear accelerator. Also, the procedure requires a very large room, with enough distance between the patient and the accelerator to project radiation beams uniformly over the entire body.

With the new method, radiation comes from above the patient in a pendulum-like swing, or arc-beam pattern, controlled by sophisticated computers, and the patient can be in a smaller room. The new system was developed by John T. Keane, Ph.D., computer systems manager at Montefiore Medical Center (NY, NY, USA). "It is much more comfortable than current methods and provides uniform radiation treatment,” said Bhadrasain Vikram, M.D., chairman of the department of radiation oncology at Montefiore.