Imagine a machine that helps doctors plan radiation treatments for cancer patients with greater precision than ever before. Imagine equipment so sophisticated that it fashions a radiation beam to match the shape of a cancerous tumor. Such high-tech wonders aren't merely a cancer patient's dream for the future. They are a reality at The George Washington University Hospital's Radiation Oncology Center.

Greater precision means better results.
One of the highlights of the Center is the advanced technology of the Philips AcQsim computed tomography (CT) scanner. The 60 centimeter large-bore opening of this scanner allows patients to be placed in the same position they will be in when they receive radiation treatment. As a result, the scanner can provide significant benefits to patients, and allows radiation oncologists to simulate radiation therapy with greater precision—which may translate into better treatment results.

The Varian linear accelerator is another important feature of the Radiation Oncology Center. This computerized machine not only delivers conventional three-dimensional (3-D) conformal treatment, but can provide image guided Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and the advanced RapidArc^TM technology as well.

With image guided IMRT and RapidArc, doctors can deliver higher doses of radiation directly to tumors and cancer cells, while decreasing potentially harmful doses to surrounding healthy tissue. This helps lower patients' risks of complications and side effects. And because the linear accelerator matches the shape of the radiation beam to the shape of the tumor, doctors can treat tumors that may have previously been considered untreatable because they were so close to other vital organs.

This innovative technology offers new hope to some cancer patients who may have had more limited treatment options in the past.