Newly diagnosed cancer patients should spend as much time researching a radiation treatment facility as they would spend picking out a new car or a home.
“More than 50 percent of people diagnosed with cancer will have to undergo radiation therapy,” said Dr. E. Brian Butler, chief of radiation oncology at The Methodist Cancer Center in Houston. “It's very important to do your homework because, as a cancer patient, this will be one of the most important decisions you will make.”
Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), pioneered by The Methodist Hospital in March, 1994, is a procedure that gives radiation oncologists the ability to shape and focus multiple small beams of radiation and deliver them directly to the tumor in a circular manner. This drastically reduces the amount of good tissue that is sometimes damaged during radiation therapy.
“You need a staff of highly trained professionals to make sure the patient receives the best treatment possible,” Butler said. “For instance, at Methodist, we have seven Ph.D. level physicists, six dosimetrists and 16 therapists trained in IMRT. All of these people play a vital role in providing the type of care these patients need.”
There are a number of questions a person should ask when searching for a radiation therapy facility: