Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a relatively new technique to deliver radiotherapy. It allows doctors to shape the radiotherapy very closely around a tumour and offer improved sparing of surrounding healthy tissue as compared to standard radiotherapy. IMRT also allows doctors to offer curative therapy for some tumours which would otherwise be difficult to treat.

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Intensity modulated radiation therapy uses several X-ray radiotherapy beams, each one shaped around the tumour, and each one delivering a specially planned pattern of radiation which closely follows the curves and hollows of the tumour being treated. IMRT is especially useful for cancers of the head and neck region because very sensitive normal areas of the body lie close to these tumours, and sometimes this prevents the delivery of the radiation needed to cure cancers in this region. This technique might also allow for treatment of these tumours with the expectation of less side effects. Just like conventional radiotherapy, a treatment course lasts around five to seven weeks, and patients are treated five days per week.

We have been treating patients with malignancies of the head and neck region using IMRT since early 2004. The highest importance is attached to quality assurance procedures during the planning and delivery of IMRT treatment at William Buckland Radiotherapy Centre.
A team of medical physicists, radiotherapists and radiation oncologists checks all aspects of each patient’s planning and treatment, ensuring the delivery of accurate and precise intensity modulated radiation therapy.