Open AccessPreliminary experience of helical tomotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer
Author(s) -
Cyrus Chargari,
F. Campana,
Philippe Beuzeboc,
S. Zefkili,
Youlia Kirova
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
world journal of gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.427
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 2219-2840
pISSN - 1007-9327
DOI - 10.3748/wjg.15.4444
Subject(s) - tomotherapy , pancreatic cancer , medicine , radiation therapy , cancer , radiology , image guided radiation therapy , external beam radiotherapy , adverse effect , nuclear medicine , brachytherapy
Radiotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer is technically difficult and frequently associated with high-grade digestive toxicity. Helical tomotherapy (HT) is a new irradiation modality that combines megavoltage computed tomography imaging for patient positioning with intensity-modulated fan-beam radiotherapy. Its recent availability opens new fields of exploration for pancreatic radiotherapy as a result of its ability to tailor very well-defined dose distributions around the target volumes. Here, we report the use of HT in two patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Doses to the bowel, kidneys and liver were reduced significantly, which allowed for excellent treatment tolerance without any high-grade adverse effects in either patient.