3DCRT for Prostate Cancer: Advanced Radiation Therapy

A new form of radiation treatment for prostate cancer is called three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy, or 3DCRT. This treatment sends a dose of radiation that is patterned to fit only the specific three-dimensional area of the prostate without negatively affecting the surrounding tissue.

Function

• Radiation treatments prior to the development of 3DCRT were charted on a one-dimensional plane, which dosed the cancerous region in a broader blanket of radiation. This new method targets the affected areas of the prostate with a customized pattern specific to the patient's body.

Significance

• According to the Mayo Clinic, this technique is now used to treat cancers in various parts of the body, but is particularly effective in dealing with prostate cancer, lung cancer and certain brain tumors.

Features

• The targeted approach of three-dimensional conformal radiation treatment effectively bombards the cancer in the prostate without killing healthy cells in the surrounding area. This leads to fewer side effects and a faster recovery time for patients going through the treatment.

Virtual Simulation

• A CAT scan is taken to create a three-dimensional image of the patient's prostate. This image allows the radiation oncologist to tailor the radiation beams to give the tumorous region maximum coverage without causing collateral damage to healthy cells.

  New technology then allows the treating physician to take data from the CAT scan and, through a process called virtual simulation, determine the location of both damaged and healthy tissue. This information is used to calibrate the radiation beams for the first treatment and chart the success of subsequent treatments.

Considerations

• The positioning of the patient's body throughout preliminary scanning and during delivery of radiation is crucial to the treatment's success. The oncologist commonly uses stabilization braces---and a certain degree of skill and experience---to immobilize the patient during this treatment.