Physicians at the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert Hospital were the first in the world to treat a cancer patient using the Accuray Radixact® System with Synchrony® motion tracking and correction technology. They treated a 45-year-old man with lung cancer, delivering the maximum dose of radiation needed precisely to his tumor even though lung tumors move with a patient’s respiration. With the addition of Synchrony, the Radixact System tracked the tumor’s movement and adjusted the radiation beam to keep it precisely fixed on the target, using the smallest treatment field possible.
Without the real-time motion tracking and correction offered by the new technology, physicians would have to expand the radiation target to account for tumor motion, putting healthy tissues at risk. Or, they would turn the radiation beam on and off to meet the target accurately — a process called gating — which extends treatment time for the patient.
“This technological enhancement fits our overall vision of image-guided, adaptive therapy,” said Christopher Schultz, MD, FACR, FASTRO, MCW professor and chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology with the Froedtert & MCW Cancer Network. “We believe the addition of Synchrony to our Radixact System will expand treatment options for patients with mobile tumors, including tumors that are currently too large to treat without motion tracking.”
