Cancer leukemia
Radiotherapy
The objective of radiotherapy is to deliver a high dose of radiation to a volume of treatment in order to maximize tumor control, keeping the dose in nearby tissues as low as possible to reduce the probability of severity of complications in normal tissues.
Clinical data has shown around 50% of patients would benefit from IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy ) treatment, but it must be performed safely, quickly and efficiently from planning to delivery.
Elekta (creators of our radiotherapy equipment, “Versa HD”) developed rotational IMRT, a delivery technique known in Spanish as Modulated Volumetric Arc Therapy (VMAT).
VMAT ( Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy ) is an advanced radiation therapy technique that delivers high doses of radiation specifically to the target (tumor) while reducing the dose to surrounding tissue and surrounding organs. With the use of single or multiple high-energy rays or particles that move in the form of interrupted arcs around the patient, this technique allows us to drastically reduce treatment times
This gives VMAT of:
- Greater control.
- Greater flexibility.
- Greater dose compliance.
- Better compliance and dose homogeneity, especially around the spine.
- Lower average doses of OAR (Organs at Risk) vital, such as: heart, thyroid, esophagus, lung, among others.
- Maximum dose reduction in OARs, said dose reduction, could lead to an improvement in late effects and an increased quality of life.
Advantages of the VMAT
- Better compliance and dose homogeneity, especially around the spine.
- Lower average doses of OAR (Organs at Risk) vital, such as: heart, thyroid, esophagus, lung, among others.
- Maximum dose reduction in OARs, said dose reduction, could lead to an improvement in late effects and an increased quality of life.
Radiotherapy in leukemia
Whole-body radiation is often an important part of treatment before a bone marrow or
peripheral blood stem cell transplant. At the COC we have a radiotherapy team that offers:
- Advances in systemic therapy and radiotherapy that have prolonged survival.
- Radiotherapy that reduces the risk of locoregional recurrence after surgery by at least
70%. - Radiotherapy that prolongs survival in early and advanced stages after radical surgery.
- We have the appropriate technology to apply modern techniques that offer long-term
benefit by controlling late toxicity.
Leukemia situation in Mexico
- According to GLOBOCAN, in 2020, 6,955 new cases of this disease were diagnosed and 4,786 people died from it, making it one of the top ten cancers with the highest incidence and mortality in Mexico.
- In Mexico during 2017, of every 100 hospital discharges due to cancer (malignant tumors), of the population from 0 to 19 years of age, there is lymphoid leukemia, which alone represents 61% (24,851) of the total discharges due to cancer. cancer (40 679) in this population group.
By type of malignant tumor, leukemia is the main cause of death in the population under 15 years of age (51% in men and 56% in women) and in young people between 15 and 29 years of age (33% in men and 32% in women).
Radiotherapy in the treatment of leukemia
Radiotherapy is a treatment regimen that uses different types and sources of ionizing radiation to control or cure some tumors, as well as other diseases, damaging cellular DNA so that cells lose their ability to divide or regenerate.
It can be used in combination with other treatments, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy or surgery.
Patients with hematological diseases that require radiotherapy treatment usually receive External Beam Radiotherapy . In these cases, the treatment is administered through a machine that emits ionizing radiation to a predefined area and in a divided manner, so the patient has to attend one or more radiotherapy sessions every day during the course of treatment.
When radiation therapy is used as part of the conditioning regimen for a bone marrow transplant, it is usually delivered to the whole body (whole body irradiation).
Being diseases disseminated by blood, the treatment must be «systemic» (for this reason various drugs and routes of administration are used). Radiotherapy, being a specific local treatment, can be an aid to control a specific growth in a specific organ.