Radiation Oncology
Overview of Services
Medical Oncology

We are at the forefront of radiation therapy. Our advanced equipment includes: linear accelerators, which beam electrons or high-energy X-rays through the skin to the targeted site; a multileaf collimator, which precisely focuses the accelerator's beam, avoiding damage to healthy cells, while administering intensity modulated radiotherapy. Also available is hyperthermia, which employs heat, often in conjunction with radiation, to destroy cancer cells. High Dose Radiotherapy (HDR) equipment enhances brachytherapy at Lutheran General Hospital, permitting precise placement of a small, sealed radioactive source within the body for a short period of intense local radiation.

Other procedures available in the Radiation Oncology Department include:

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT):

The delivery of a very intense beam of radiation to diseased tissue, while maintaining an acceptable level of radiation to healthy tissue. IMRT achieves improved results through state-of-the-art technology and is quickly becoming the standard in the treatment of cancer with radiation.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery:

The precision delivery of a single high dose of radiation to a small, critically located intracranial lesion. This procedure substitutes a high-powered beam of radiation for a neurosurgeon's scalpel or prolonged radiation therapy. Computer imaging is used to target the tumor and direct the radiation beam from several angles. This procedure minimizes irradiating adjacent normal brain tissue.

Prostate Seed Implant:

The implantation (placement) of 70-150 radioactive seeds about the size of a grain of rice into the prostate as a treatment for early stage prostate cancer. These radioactive seeds give off low-energy X-rays which penetrate sufficiently to destroy cancer in the prostate but do not affect other parts of the body. This procedure is done as an outpatient in the Radiation Oncology Department and takes about an hour. Advanced imaging techniques ensure precise placement of the seeds in the prostate.