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New technologies for radiation therapy at UF Health Davis Cancer Pavilion
Our specialists at UF Health Radiation Oncology — Davis Cancer Pavilion deliver a comprehensive radiation therapy program for nearly all tumor types found in most body sites. Our radiation oncologists, radiation therapists, medical physicists and dosimetrists collaborate to deliver radiation treatment courses that result in optimal outcomes for patients. This is accomplished by delivery of radiation to the target cancer cells and minimizing the radiation dose to surrounding normal tissue.
At UF Health Radiation Oncology, patients are at the center of our approach to cancer care. UF Health is also a premiere research hospital and gives patients access to a wide range of clinical trials.
Radiation therapy is an effective treatment for most cancers at all stages as:
Cancer treatment may vary depending upon the type of cancer, the stage of cancer, and the goal of treatment. Often, one or more treatment modalities may be used to provide the most complete treatment for the patient. Increasingly, it is common to use several treatment modalities concurrently (together) or in sequence. This is referred to as multi-modality treatment of the cancer and the modalities may include surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation therapy.
For the majority of newly diagnosed cancer patients, the optimal treatment may be a multi-modality approach composed of standard therapies that have been established through extensive medical research. For other patients, the most appropriate therapy may still be under investigation and may be available only through a clinical trial.
At UF Health Cancer Center, multidisciplinary treatment teams are dedicated to the management of specific cancer types and sites through coordinated sub-specialty tumor boards and clinics. Whether you have a common or rare type of cancer, primary or recurrent cancer, physician and oncology professionals guide you through the diagnostic, treatment and after-care services for all types of adult and children's cancers. Our comprehensive cancer program provides you with the finest leading-edge cancer prevention and treatment while giving physicians and healthcare professionals the opportunity to do their best work.
UF Health Radiation Oncology - Davis Cancer Pavilion has an exceptionally comprehensive radiation treatment program while providing dedicated tumor type and site sub-specialized expertise. The radiation oncologists coordinate patient care with their subspecialty counterparts in surgical oncology, medical and pediatric oncology, pathology and diagnostic radiology. Our radiation oncology faculty and staff are key members of the multidisciplinary treatment teams, coordinating state-of-the-art diagnostic evaluations, staging studies, multi-modality treatment and survivorship care through interactive tumor board conferences and multidisciplinary clinic encounters.
Our radiation oncologists work with clinical physicists to bring the latest technological developments from industry to our patients. Treatment plans are created using the most advanced computing and imaging techniques. They have access to a complete array of devices to carefully administer radiation to "target tissues" while minimizing radiation exposure to uninvolved tissues.
The department of radiation oncology provides a full range of radiation treatment services. Patients are treated with the optimal techniques and modalities for their type and location of tumor and cancer cells.
New technology available at UF Health Radiation Oncology - Davis Cancer Pavilion delivers radiation to various parts of the body with tremendous accuracy and precision, enhancing short-course radiotherapy treatment programs such as in Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy and RadioSurgery. Further integration with surface imaging systems allows for real-time motion management, making radiotherapy delivery to exacting treatment sites, such as the breast and prostate gland, even safer and more effective.
Treatment simulation with a CT and/or MR scan is the first step in creating a treatment plan. This allows a radiation oncologist to delineate a tumor's volume in relation to the surrounding healthy tissue. UF Health Radiation Oncology leverages a number of technologies for treatment simulation, including a Philips Large Bore multi-slice CT scanner, a Philips Ambition 1.5 Tesla MR scanner, and a centralized multi-modality image registration and archiving system, among other tools.
For treatment planning, UF Health Radiation Oncology employs the Philips Pinnacle 3D and Elekta Monaco treatment planning systems for external radiation beam planning and calculation of dose. The best outcomes are achieved through our novel approach to treatment planning that leverages computer optimization algorithms matched with the treatment goals specified by the physician for each patient. Our individualized treatment plans move through a rigorous quality assurance process before they are employed.
UF Health Radiation Oncology leverages an array or linear accelerators, or LINACs, to deliver external radiation therapy — a common method used for the treatment of tumors through high-doses of x-rays or electrons. One of the main value points the LINAC machines deliver is their capability to zero in on tumors and cancer cells. Rotating around a cancer patient lying on a treatment couch, the LINAC can treat tumors from different angles and reduce the dose to healthy tissue surrounding the target area. The most recent addition to UF Health Radiation Oncology's arsenal is the Elekta Unity MR LINAC, which will allow physicians the ability to visualize tumors and changes within them more accurately and deliver daily treatments more precisely. The machine is one of 42 in use in clinics worldwide and is the only one in use in the southeastern United States.
At UF Health, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) allow clinicians to provide high dose radiation therapy in fewer fractions. Learn more about SRA and SBRT by visiting our informational page on the topic. More information on MR-guided radiation therapy can be found on the University of Florida Department of Radiation Oncology's academic site.
In addition to external radiation therapy, UF Health offers brachytherapy, a form of internal radiation treatment that deploys a radioactive source near or in a tumor via a needle or catheter. These are mostly outpatient procedures and usually are done in tandem with external radiation to achieve optimal outcomes.
Systemic radioisotope therapy is also administered at UF Health Radiation Oncology through oral and injected radiopharmaceuticals, effectively and efficiently treating a number of advanced cancer types, including prostate, thyroid and neuroendocrine cancer.
Want to know more? Check out our Patient Education section for more information.
UF Health research scientists make medicine better every day. They discover new ways to help people by running clinical trials. When you join a clinical trial, you can get advanced medical care. Sometimes years before it's available everywhere. You can also help make medicine better for everyone else. If you'd like to learn more about clinical trials, visit our clinical trials page. Or click one of the links below:
This phase III trial compares less intense hormone therapy and radiation therapy to usual hormone therapy and radiation therapy in treating patients with high risk prostate cancer and low gene risk score. This trial also compares more intense…
The purpose of this study is to see what effects, good and/or bad, proton radiation, and/or conventional radiation and hormonal therapy (if applicable), has on prostate cancer that has already returned or the risk of prostate cancer returning.
This phase II trial compares the effect of adding triapine to lutetium Lu 177 dotatate versus lutetium Lu 177 dotatate alone (standard therapy) in shrinking tumors or slowing tumor growth in patients with neuroendocrine tumors that have spread from…
Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and eighth most common cancer in women, affecting about 80,000 people in the United States every year.…
July 21, 2022
UF Health is now the first site in the southeastern United States to house a groundbreaking device that will provide personalized cancer treatment by combining…
Department of Radiation Oncology, +4 more
Radiation beams are powerful tools for treating cancer, but one side effect is that the radiation can kill healthy cells that receive exposure. So researchers are always seeking better ways of...