Iowa City, Iowa — (RI) — A new type of radiation therapy is now being used to treat cancer patients at University Hospitals in Iowa City, one of only three sites in the nation to have the technology.
It’s called the M-R linac device and U of I medical physicist Dan Hyer says it uses real-time imaging to very accurately target cancer cells with high radiation doses.
By delivering higher doses of radiation more precisely, he says cancer cells can be killed with greater efficiency, meaning fewer visits are needed. A typical prostate cancer patient may have to undergo 40 or more radiation therapy treatments.
The U of I oncology team is using the device initially for prostate and brain cancer therapy, though future applications will include moving targets in the abdomen, such as tumors in the pancreas, liver, and lungs.
The M-R linac is two technologies combined, a traditional M-R-I and a linear accelerator. Hyer says it’s that combination that allows them to zero in on the target in real-time.
