Neuro Oncology Program

In the neurosurgical critical care unit, patients receive postoperative monitoring to facilitate a trauma-free recovery. The GW Cancer Center's comprehensive, compassionate approach to healthcare extends through the follow-up period. The Brain Tumor Support Group, for example, gives patients and their families a comfortable environment in which to express their concerns and ask questions under the guidance of a neurological nurse practitioner with more than twenty years of experience.

With the Clinac® 21EX Linear Accelerator from Varian Medical Systems, The GW Cancer Center offers patients Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), a precise and sophisticated treatment technology for treating cancer. Used in conjunction with multi-modality imaging, IMRT allows technicians to plan for and deliver higher does of radiation while minimizing the effects to healthy tissue.

Standard radiation therapy is often limited by normal shifts within the human anatomy. For example, tissues and organs can settle differently each time a patient climbs on a treatment table. Weight fluctuations and normal breathing can also change a tumor's locale. Radiation oncologists have traditionally compensated for tumor movement by enlarging treatment areas, exposing more healthy tissue to the cell-killing effects of radiation. Doses are typically lowered to avoid complications.

New techniques are are now available that allow radiation therapy specialist to locate and target tumors with unprecedented accuracy. This next generation treatment technology — called image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) — represents a major step in the fight against cancer. IGRT allows for the use of higher, more effective doses of radiation because there is less risk of damaging nearby healthy tissue.