Image-guided radiation therapy

• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy
• Volumetric modulated arc therapy
• Stereotactic radiosurgery
• Stereotactic body radiation therapy
• Surface-guided radiation therapy and deep inspiration breath hold technique

Your radiation therapy team performs an imaging scan (either a CT scan or a set of X-rays) immediately before treatment and while you’re on the treatment table. IGRT is performed on a machine called a linear accelerator (or linac), which will also deliver your radiation. You’ll lie down on the treatment table and a three-dimensional (3D) shape of the entire treatment area can be imaged in less than a minute.

During each subsequent radiation therapy treatment session, your radiation team will take a new CT scan or set of X-ray scans prior to treatment and compare the image to the original taken before your treatment commenced. This will help us confirm that you’re in the correct position or determine if your tumor has shifted or altered in shape. We can then make tiny adjustments to precisely target the treatment area with radiation.

To ensure your tumor is always targeted precisely, we use daily image-guided radiation therapy every time radiation therapy is delivered. Some providers only carry out image guidance at the start of your treatment, or once or twice during the weeks of radiation therapy. Others may offer daily imaging, but it may not be applied on the same day as your treatment session. Research has shown that using daily image-guided radiation therapy during each delivery is more effective and fewer side effects are experienced.

What about side effects?