Radiation Oncology Program

Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy irradiation to treat cancer. Radiation beams can be produced by sophisticated equipment called linear accelerators, which are precisely aimed toward the tumor or areas that it might spread, through computerized analysis of imaging studies such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. This form of radiation therapy is generally termed "external beam" irradiation.

Radiation therapy can also be delivered by the positioning of radioactive materials inside the lung or chest wall, through temporary or permanent radioactive implants, performed in conjunction with thoracic surgeons and pulmonologists. This is usually described as "brachytherapy."

At the Allegheny Center for Lung and Thoracic Disease, all patients are evaluated by the multidisciplinary panel of oncology experts. A treatment plan is outlined in accordance to each patient's tumor presentation. External beam radiation treatments may be delivered pre-operatively (in order to shrink a tumor to a size where it can be successfully operated upon) or given postoperatively (in order to prevent tumor regrowth after surgery). In either case, patients go through a sophisticated process of treatment planning, consisting of CT scans in a "simulator" machine, followed by three-dimensional reconstruction of tumor volume and other target areas of radiation therapy, as well as normal tissues. Medical physicists and radiation oncologists analyze the data through special computers, which results in irradiating through multiple beams at different angles and beam shapes, conforming each beam to the target tumor at that angle through conformal three-dimensional computer guided irradiation.

Radiation treatments are painless and usually last four to five weeks in duration. The patient most commonly is treated five days a week. Research conducted at the Allegheny Center for Lung and Thoracic Disease has shown that some chemotherapeutic regimens enhance tumor response to radiation therapy, so concomitant chemotherapy and radiation therapy is used in appropriate instances.

Radiation implants are placed intraoperatively or endobronchially. For some tumors close to the chest wall, thoracic surgeons and radiation oncologists plan the positioning of a custom-made layer of material containing radioactive seeds (radioactive mesh). High dose rate endobronchial brachytherapy is a method through which tumors obstructing the airways can be irradiated and shrunk in minutes using a computerized device that guides a radiation source to its proper position inside the airways; treatment lasts 10 to 15 minutes, and patients can be discharged the same day.

Through the most sophisticated, computerized, three-dimensional planning and delivery radiation methods, with a staff of physicians, nurses, physicists, therapists and computer technicians who attend to every patient need, and through close multidisciplinary collaboration, radiation therapy is fully integrated into the center's activities.

Director
David Parda, M.D.

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