What are The Benefits of Image Guided Radio-Therapy ( IGRT) Procedure

• Image Guided Radio-Therapy ( IGRT) treatment is beneficial in administering the radiation on the exact location of different types of tumours including that of lung, prostate, liver, pancreas, breast, brain, head and neck.
• The radiation beam can be imaged and administered at the tumor center in the real time.
• By controlling breathing, a lung cancer patient can reduce movement, there by, helping radiation to be more accurately targeted.
• Least possibility of error as the correct amount of radiation dose can be administered to the exact location of the tumour.
• Minimal side effects as the amount of radiation for significant/normal organs can be reduced.
• More accurate treatment as real time imaging can be done.

Who are the Ideal Patients for Image Guided Radio-Therapy (IGRT) Procedure?

•  Lung Cancer: In more than sixty percent of the patients with lung cancer, the disease is diagnosed in advanced stages, in which the radiotherapy and chemotherapy is the standard of care. To achieve cure with minimal side-effects, it is important to deliver the radical dose of radiation to the tumour.

  But lungs move with respiration and so as not to miss the tumour, a bigger volume is treated leading to high doses of radiation to normal lung, so Image Guided Radio-Therapy ( IGRT) can be advantageous to save uninvolved lung.

• Breast Cancer: In the current scenario, breast cancer is diagnosed in early stage and in most of the women, the breast can be preserved. In preservation of the breast, the cosmesis should be maintained. The radiotherapy of the breast involves the irradiation of the whole breast and higher dose to the tumour bed. But at the same time the lung and the heart also will be irradiated.

  These patients are going to be the long term survivors, hence the late toxicities of radiation should be minimised. Lungs and heart being mobile organs, Image Guided Radio-Therapy ( IGRT) can be solution to overcome their mobility.



• Prostate Cancer: Prostate cancer is curable with radiation. Very high dose of radiation is required for the treatment. The prostate is surrounded by two dose limiting critical structures, the rectum and the urinary bladder. The prostate is situated under the urinary bladder and its position varies with the bladder filling and also to a certain extent by distension of the rectum. With Image Guided Radio-Therapy (IGRT), these volumes can be reduced, so that a higher dose of radiation is delivered to the tumour and minimising the dose to the bladder and the rectum both.
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  Brain tumors: The brain is enclosed in the compact cranial cavity and brain does not move on its own within this cavity, but the irradiation volumes are very prone for set-up errors and this is very risky in the era of IMRT. The movements of neck and chin can alter the position of targets within the cranial sphere to a large extent. The margins of the treatment volumes are kept very tight to save the normal brain and other critical structures and the gradient between the high dose and low dose at the periphery of tumour volume is very sharp. These errors can be minimised with Image Guided Radio-Therapy ( IGRT).

How to Prepare for The Procedure of Image Guided Radio Therapy ( IGRT)

Before the Image Guided Radio-Therapy ( IGRT) treatment, your physician prepares an immobilizing device so that the area to be treated is not in motion while scanning. Post which, the physician performs the CT, PET or MRI scan to determine the exact location of the tumour in your body organ. The physician will then mark and plan the treatment using these images while the patient remains at home for 2-3 days till planning is complete. Now the patient is ready for Image Guided Radio-Therapy (IGRT) procedure.