Last year, Norris Cotton Cancer Center began treating patients with Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), one of the most sophisticated approaches to 3-D radiation therapy available. IMRT allows precisely placed beams to be "molded" to a tumor without harming surrounding healthy tissue - making it possible to treat areas that would have been considered too risky just a few years ago.

A milestone in the ongoing effort to bring the most advanced radiation therapy to the Cancer Center, IMRT adds to a tool set that includes high dose rate brachy therapy for gynecologic and head and neck cancers; stereotactic radio therapy and radiosurgery for brain tumors; and radio labeled antibody therapy for lymphoma. Yet there’s even more going on in Radiation Oncology at the Cancer Center today, and our latest advances mean exciting new possibilities for our patients.

Cancer Center researchers and doctors, working with a small New England company, have developed a revolutionary new implant to treat prostate cancer. It's a tiny coil made of palladium, and its unique shape allows it to deliver radiation evenly and effectively, even in hard-to-treat areas of the prostate. Cancer Center researcher, Jack Hoopes, DVM, PhD, tested and refined the new coil, and radiation physicist, David Gladstone, ScD, determined how the new shape would affect radiation dosing. After FDA approval - just four months ago - radiation oncologist, Dr. Alan Hartford implanted the coil in the first-ever patient, right here at DHMC.

The new coil provides an exciting alternative to current treatment options, and has the potential to change the future of prostate treatment. The standard treatment uses tiny "seeds" that are implanted in the prostate to irradiate the tumor. Because of their shape, seeds can create areas of "hot" and "cold" in the radiation field, and reduce the effectiveness of treatment. They can also move, sometimes out of the prostate altogether.

The shape of the coil implant allows it to stay put once implanted, and deliver consistent radiation to the surrounding area. The new coils, unlike seeds, can be used in the outer edge of the prostate allowing for maximum treatment effectiveness.

There is an exciting new option for treating lung cancer - respiration gated radiation therapy - and the Cancer Center is the only center in Northern New England to offer it.

Treating tumors in the lungs presents a particular challenge to radiation oncologists: the tumor, like the lung itself, is constantly moving during treatment. For treatment to be effective, a larger area of the lung - and more healthy tissue - is irradiated, to ensure that the tumor is always within the radiation beam.

With respiration-gated radiation therapy, the radiation beam is targeted - in real time with the breath - to a specific point in the cycle of respiration. Dr. Eugen Hug, chief of Radiation Oncology, explains its advantages: "If we trigger the radiation beam to a specific time in the respiration cycle, we can cut down the amount of lung to receive radiation and target it more to the tumor. We also can give a higher dose of radiation."