Defeat colon or prostate cancer relapses in a single session of about 40 minutes, concentrating a huge amount of ionizing radiation, that is high-energy X-rays, in a single dose.
Today it is possible thanks to a hi-tech precision killer, capable of hitting the tumor target using a high-field resonance such as a built-in magnifying glass. The innovative treatment was performed for the first time in Italy at the Department of Advanced Oncological Radiotherapy at the IRCCS of Negrar on two patients aged 77 and 87 who successfully underwent precision surgery, respectively, on abdominal metastases from colon cancer. and recurrence of the pelvis from prostate cancer.
The IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital in Negrar (Verona) is one of the most advanced centers in radiotherapy treatment against cancer, unique in our country, and among the 25 facilities in the world, equipped with Unity Elekta, a weapon of precision composed of a linear accelerator integrated by an magnetic resonance, the same used for diagnostic use. This allows to increase the level of precision to overcome the criticalities of conventional radiotherapy by pushing the curative potential of radiotherapy to the limits in treating cancer.
“Traditional radiotherapy has always been based on schemes of several weeks of sessions to treat the tumor in order to create a difference, day by day, between the tumor that is gradually led to death, and the surrounding healthy cells that instead have time. , between the various sessions, to recover this damage – explains Filippo Alongi, director of the Department of Advanced Oncological Radiotherapy of the IRCCS of Negrar and associate professor of the faculty of medicine at the University of Brescia – This is because outside the brain, the movement of internal organs with breathing, digestion or other functions, is not always predictable and represents a reason for uncertainty.In such conditions, directing the radiation in a single session could result in a complete failure of the tumor destruction and damage to the surrounding healthy tissues. For this reason, the single session has failed to have great applications despite the continuous modernization technology in most of the radiotherapy centers. Unity revolutionizes this approach because having a high-field MRI while the patient is undergoing treatment, we see in real time with clear images where the radiation is directed. If the tumor is not completely inside the target, we can make adjustments and shot corrections, safeguarding healthy tissues “.
“With the new device it is as if we had a sniper rifle with a magnifying glass in the viewfinder, capable of hitting the tumor in its vital center with a single deadly bullet, absolutely painless and quick – continues Alongi who points out – Great advantages too. practical, such as not having to go to the hospital dozens of times for radiotherapy treatment. An ideal solution for patients who move from distant locations, in Italy but also from abroad, which also represents a saving for the health system, reducing costs direct and indirect treatment and eliminating waiting lists as well as allowing the treatment of many more patients “.
breaking latest news © Copyright ANSA
