A second True Beam linear accelerator has been in operation for a few weeks in the Radiotherapy department of the Cremona hospital. It is a tool that works in a complementary way with the twin linear accelerator active since 2022, guaranteeing therapeutic continuity for patients in treatment and better organization of the service.
As he explains Sandro Tonoli (director of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine ASST of Cremona), «The strength of the True Beam accelerator lies in the accuracy of the identification of the clinical target with image-guided (IGRT) and surface-guided (SGRT) methods, as well as in the more adequate dosages. The combination of these three factors optimizes therapeutic efficacy by reducing the risk of acute and late toxicity, and in many cases has allowed the reduction of treatment times.”
Cremona, Nuclear Medicine: the second linear accelerator is active
The linear accelerator is used for the treatment of patients with tumors which, due to extension, contraindications or comorbidities, cannot be treated with surgery, or patients with tumors in which radiotherapy is alternative to surgery, (as in prostate cancer). It is also used in the pre-operative setting (locally advanced rectal carcinomas) or post-operative settings (typical example post-surgical treatments in breast tumors or brain tumors).
In many cases, radiation therapy is associated with chemotherapy; it is also widely used in the field of palliative treatments for bone, brain and lymph node metastases, often with stereotaxic techniques, which allow very high doses of radiation to be administered with extreme precision to small tumor targets, destroying them.
CANCER CELLS, A TARGET TO HIT WITH PRECISION
Thanks to the acceleration of a beam of electrons, this equipment produces beams of high-energy ionizing radiation that cause damage to tumor cells, reducing their possibility of duplicating. The new technology allows you to operate on both static targets (e.g. bone metastatic lesions) both mobile (as in the case of neoplastic pulmonary nodules), synchronizing the irradiation with the patient’s natural respiratory movements. The speed and effectiveness of the treatment allow for a reduction in exposure times and often the number of sessions.
To ensure the correct execution of therapies, the accelerator is equipped with a robotic bed, an optical control system of the surface of the patient’s body and an integrated CT scan, to check and correct the actual position of the body and the tumor target before each treatment, therefore to operate with millimetric precision.
A TEAM OF TRAINED AND COMPETENT SPECIALISTS
At the Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine ASST in Cremona, over fifty patients are treated per day, divided equally between the two accelerators. Overall more than nine hundred patients are welcomed every year, for a total of approximately 12,000 radiotherapy sessions.
All this is possible thanks to a multidisciplinary team made up of seven radiation oncologists, ten medical radiology technicians, eight nurses, a social care worker, two technical operators for patient transport and a coordinator. Added to these are three specialists in medical physics (coordinated by the doctor Felicita Luraschi), whose contribution is indispensable for the development of treatment plans and in the management of high technology.
Source: www.asst-cremona.it
