- Worldwide, cancer is the second leading cause of death.
- One in five people will develop cancer.
- Centro ABC presents NEW simulator tomograph: technology for more precise treatments.
While the World Health Organization, WHO, points out that one in five people will suffer from this disease at some point in their life; it will cause the death of one in eight men and one in 11 women will be diagnosed with some variant.
One of the main therapeutic options in terms of cancer treatment is radiotherapya technique used in up to 70% of cases in advanced centers such as the Cancer Center of the Medical Center ABC. Its main objective, like surgery, is seek local or regional control of the diseaseallowing to destroy cancer cells.
There are particular cases, such as a localized tumor in an early stage, where the intention of radiotherapy is curative and it could be the only treatment.
“In combination with surgery, radiotherapy (neoadjuvant) can be used before to reduce the size of the tumor or later (adjuvant) to prevent the cancer from recurring,” says Dr. Dolores de la Mata, head of radiotherapy at the Medical Center ABC.
For advanced metastatic disease, radiotherapy usually has a concomitant synergistic effect with chemotherapy and targeted therapies. Palliative radiation therapy can help control pain or other symptoms that are caused by metastases.
Thus, depending on the diagnosis and the specific characteristics of the disease, the radiation oncologist will recommend the type of radiotherapy that can most benefit the patient.
ABC is the first in Latin America to have innovative equipment and tools
Dr. de la Mata indicates that “This center is the first in Latin America to have innovative equipment and tools that allow knowing the unique characteristics of each patient’s oncological condition; also offering a multidisciplinary management with professionals who provide accurate diagnoses and treatments that give people a better quality of life.”
The Cancer Center designs and individualizes treatments for a wide range of tumor types and sizesprimary or metastatic, performing highly personalized treatments in adults and children.
By the end of 2021, the Medical Center ABC introduced the new CT Simulator, equipment that allows us to go one step ahead with advanced and highly personalized therapeutic options. With this technology, radiation oncologists can access precise and detailed images of the organs affected by cancer, in addition to having a greater definition of the fundamental images in the process of planning radiotherapy treatments.
Dr. de la Mata explains that in the center the treatment is designed through the simulation and planning to find a unique procedure for each patient.
The objective of the simulation is to determine, with the CAT Simulator, what is optimal for the sessions of the therapeutic course.
“In the first session we can obtain computed tomography images that provide detailed information on the location, volume, structures surrounding the tumor, etc.”
The CT Simulator equipment provides greater comfort and closeness to the patient
The CT Simulator equipment provides greater comfort and closeness to the patient, thanks to its different artificial intelligence tools that are integrated, helping to speed up the definition of the first steps of the radiotherapy procedure. In this way, heSimulation becomes the first step in therapybecoming a virtual model that will allow programming the treatment using specific software.
On this virtual model, the physicists doctors and dosimetrists will delimit the white volumes and the organs at risk (the surrounding healthy tissue); from here they will calculate the precise doses, as well as the directions of the radiation beams that will be aimed at the tumor.
Together with the radiation oncologist, they will be able to define the specific treatment plan that will be sent to the linear accelerator, which cannot be modified and will have a detailed control.
“We know that this equipment contributes to the fact that the medical personnel, who care for cancer patients, have the latest technology without forgetting to transmit the warmth and attention in the service that characterizes us”, concludes Dr. Dolores de la Mata.
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