Tomotherapy in the best oncology centers in Ukraine and abroad

Tomotherapy is a new word in the treatment of cancer. It is used in cases where radiation therapy is indicated to the patient to fight the tumor. The essence of the method is the targeted irradiation of the affected area of tissues with a spiral beam of radioactive rays. The advantage of this approach is that the device focuses the rays exclusively on a malignant tumor, without exposing healthy tissues.

Due to the precise focusing of radiation, the effect of radiation on the patient's body is significantly reduced. The treatment is painless, not accompanied by unpleasant sensations, which allows for a course without placing the patient in a hospital.

The benefits of tomotherapy for cancer treatment

Tomotherapy refers to modern methods of radiotherapy, but unlike the latter, it has a number of significant advantages:

• Equipment for tomotherapy combined the capabilities of most devices used in radiotherapy. In fact, this is an apparatus that is a tomograph with video guidance devices on the affected area, controlling the intensity of the fan beam of radiation. It combines the functions of cyber and gamma knife, which together give amazing results of therapy;
• A point effect on the affected tissue areas allows for cancer tomotherapy near healthy organs and tissues, without fear of harming them;
• The high accuracy of the diagnosis and the location of the tumor allows you to direct the vortex beam of rays directly to the lesion. Moreover, it is not required to conduct research on the size and location of the cancerous tumor during each subsequent tomotherapy session.

In what types of cancer is tomotherapy effective?

The high efficiency of the technique allows you to successfully deal with substandard formations located in inaccessible places of the body. The treatment of which by traditional methods of radiotherapy or surgical intervention is difficult or impossible in principle. For example, tumors of the brain, spine, prostate. Tomotherapy for prostate cancer allows you to successfully treat the disease without resorting to surgery in one session.

Especially good results are shown by tomotherapy for metastases when foci of cancer cells appear throughout the human body. Based on the scan and their identification, treatment with the device is possible for one session over the entire area of metastasis, when, as during the procedure on devices of previous generations, several sessions of radiation therapy were required to irradiate them.

How is treatment at tomotherapy centers performed?

It will be most appropriate to contact tomotherapy centers where devices of this class have been used for a long time. Specialists who have rich practical experience in tomotherapy devices. Such clinics include the oncology center Tomoclinic, a member of UAMT.

The stages of treatment are described below:

1. Treatment planning. To assess the general condition of the patient, determine the type and nature of the tumor, plan treatment with the primary step, a CT scan is performed. Based on the results of which an accurate three-dimensional image of the tumor is formed, an individual treatment plan is drawn up, which includes determining the power, intensity, and direction of the rays, the number of necessary sessions. After which the data is loaded into the tomotherapy apparatus;
2. Patient positioning. The correct location of the patient on the table of the device guarantees a point effect on the tumor. For this, before the beginning of each session of the procedure, the current CT image is reconciled with the image obtained at the diagnostic stage. This procedure is possible thanks to the CE device integrated in the device. Even with a slight displacement of the patient’s body, the system will introduce the necessary corrective actions - the vortex beam of rays will be directed exclusively to the area affected by the tumor. It is due to these factors that high accuracy of the effect on the tumor is achieved;
3. Irradiation. The emitter moves smoothly around the patient 360 degrees. The intensity of the flow, its shape, and the area of the irradiated surface is continuously monitored by the controller of the device. At the same time, the table moves with the patient in a horizontal plane. Thus, a spiral action is formed on the tumor, which allows it to be successfully combated during the whole one session;
4. Evaluation of the results of therapy. The success of the exposure, the change in the shape of the tumor, and its size is controlled directly during the procedure by comparing the initial and current CT images. Subsequent additional checks are not required.

The cost of oncology tomotherapy 

The cost of a course of tomotherapy is quite high. This is primarily due to the high cost of the device and the costs of its maintenance and maintenance. Only one clinic in Ukraine was able to afford such equipment. But, as mentioned above, in addition to possessing equipment, highly qualified specialists are also needed. Therefore, the most correct solution would be to contact Tomoclinic that has many years of successful experience in operating such equipment.

The final price of tomotherapy depends on many factors identified during the examination of the patient and the diagnosis. It depends on the localization and size of the tumor and as a result, the number of tomotherapy sessions. On average, the cost of the procedure varies from 6 to 15 thousand euros, including the cost of living and related procedures in a clinic.