Combining real-time MRI visualization with adaptive radiotherapy treatment planning and immediate delivery represents the next step in precision tailored cancer therapy, and these advanced high technology treatment techniques can be applied to both the definitive cure of primary tumors and also to the management of recurrent metastasis with ablative control intent.
On August 4, 2021, the UF Department of Radiation Oncology unveiled its new Philips Ambition 1.5 Tesla MR scanner (shown right, with the UF Radiation Therapy team) at the Davis Cancer Pavilion as a first step in offering even more advanced treatment options for cancer patients.
“Here at UF Health, we have the ability to treat cancer from MRI diagnostic detection and biopsy through to adjuvant or definitive curative and ablative treatment delivery,” said radiation oncology Medical Director Robert A. Zlotecki, MD, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs. “Our advanced planning technology greatly helps to better avoid and protect normal healthy tissues such as the bladder, bowel, and rectum when treating men or women with cancers of the pelvic region. This includes primary cancers of the rectum and anus, the prostate in men, and the cervix, uterus and other GYN sites in women.”
In addition, MRI evaluation and integration significantly enhance the delivery of radiotherapy to central nervous system tumors, as well as cancers of the chest and thorax, including female breast cancers, where limiting exposure risk to normal tissues and organs such as the lungs and heart is as critically important as precisely targeting the cancerous tumor site.
“If patients choose to treat prostate cancer by radiotherapy, then the MRI data and treatment planning images transition into our SpaceOAR process, which will maximizes potential for a an accelerated treatment course of only 20 days, while also greatly preserving quality of life and minimizing risks of side effects for eligible prostate cancer patients,” Dr. Zlotecki continued. “With the advanced Philips MR-CAT technology, all radiotherapy treatment planning for cancers of the prostate, pelvis and the central nervous system can now be done directly from the advanced MRI sequences – without the need for a separate CT scans.”
For more information about radiation oncology, treatment options, and patient care at UF, visit our Patient Care pages.