SMARTBEAM™ IMRT: Why?

Why Would A Doctor Recommend Varian’s SmartBeam Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)?

• It provides a precise and effective way of delivering radiation therapy.
  
• Higher doses of radiation can be delivered directly to tumors and cancer cells, while surrounding organs and tissues are protected.
  
• Lower doses to healthy normal tissues may mean fewer complications or side effects. 
  
• In prostate cancer studies conducted at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, local tumor control rates were significantly improved.
  
• Physicians can treat cancers that were previously untreatable with radiation therapy.

• With IMRT, radiation oncologists are no longer confined to using a single, large, uniform beam of radiation that may cause treatment side effects by treating more of the healthy, normal tissue near the tumor.

• IMRT can be a non-invasive alternative to surgery in some cases.
• With early detection, IMRT can eradicate tumors before the cancer spreads.
  
• IMRT can usually be done on an outpatient basis.
  
• IMRT targets the tumor and not the entire body.
  
• Medicare covers IMRT treatment for many types of cancer.  Many other insurance carriers do, too.  (Individuals should check with their insurers or health care providers for actual coverage information).