Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy

Primarily Intensity- Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is used to treat head, neck and prostate cancer, but in some cases IMRT is used in the treatment of mesothelioma and other lung related cancers. IMRT is not the only one radiation therapy used to treat the mesothelioma cancer; there are other two types of radiation therapy too like Brachytherapy and Three-Dimensional Radiation Treatment (3D-CRT) that could be really helpful in the treatment.

How is IMRT done?

A computer- controlled device, linear accelerator, is used by IMRT. This device boosts the speed through which radiation moves along a straight path. It is the linear accelerator that makes it possible to deliver very precise and high-radiation doses to the entire tumor or to the specific parts of the tumor. The accuracy and precision of the device decreases the possibility of damaging the healthy tissues in the surroundings of radiation area. As the ray is released in several small bursts the dose of radiation can adjust more easily to the shape and size of the tumor. As you know the life expectancy for the patients of Mesothelioma is largely depends on the elimination of tumor.

How is IMRT used in treating Pleural Mesothelioma?

Typically in treating pleural mesothelioma three types of treatments are used, which is called trimodality:

• Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (it is done before the main treatment that is surgery)

• Extrapleural pneumonectomy (it is the excision or surgical removal of the affected lung)

• Adjuvant radiation (it is done after the procedure of surgery, in order to destroy any remaining cancer cells)

In IMRT, the radiotherapy plays a very effective role! Toxicity problems are related to this type of radiotherapy; from time to time radiation oncologists assess the effectiveness of it by using imaging scan made by FDG-PET (fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography).

A radioactive glucose tracer (a substance that has a radioisotope) is used to track the metabolism of glucose in the cancer cells. This is really useful in providing information about whether the cell is responding to the treatment or it is still functional.

Now, let me discuss a form of IMRT, which is Hemithoracic Radiation Therapy!  

Hemithoracic Radiation Therapy

Hemithoracic Radiation targets a particular part of affected chest area. The good thing is that the researchers are finding successful results about applying the high doses of this radiation therapy on number of mesothelioma patients, which were in the advance stages of the disease! 

The median survival rate of the patients who received high dose of hemithoracic radiation is 12.4 months with a one-year survival rate.

What are advantages and disadvantages of IMRT?

The advantage of IMRT is the precision! The high dose of radiation can be given to the tumor without damaging the healthy tissues.

The disadvantage of this therapy is due to some toxicity problem like pneumonitis, which is fatal! In pneumonitis lungs become inflamed and in extreme cases the lungs are damaged because of the tissues within the air sacs, lungs are unable to stretch while breathing. It can cause respiratory failure, heart failure and death. But researchers are trying to eliminate this side-effect and determine how much a patient can tolerate the doses of this radiation.