Sophisticated Technology & Care

As part of our continuing commitment to provide state-of-the-art care, Central Florida Cancer Care Center recently moved into a new facility in Sanford , Florida . Our new 12,000 square feet Center features a state-of-the-art Varian linear accelerator equipped with multi-leaf collimation, electronic portal imaging, electronic medical record, and quality control software to further improve treatment quality.

The facility equipment includes a GE helical CT Scanner, an Oldelft simulator, Son Array 3D Ultrasound Imaging, and Varian's powerful Treatment Planning System. Now all planning and treatment is done at one convenient site.

About half of all cancer patients will require radiation therapy during some phase of their cancer care. This treatment is delivered in a number of different ways including x-ray or electron beams (from "clinical linear accelerators”) and either temporary or permanent internal placement of radioactive sources (known as "brachytherapy" or seed treatments.)

External Beam Radiation Therapy

This treatment method delivers high doses of radiation from an external radiation source which specifically targets the affected area and minimizes the dose to the surrounding normal tissue. EBRT uses a linear accelerator to direct radiation to the affected area.

IMRT

Central Florida Cancer Care Center features one of the most advanced forms of radiation treatment available delivered by the powerful Varian 23EX linear accelerator, providing Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). This complex technique of delivering radiotherapy is a powerful method of precisely delivering conformal doses of radiation to tumor tissue, while simultaneously sparing nearby healthy tissue. To plan and deliver IMRT treatments, our Center uses the SmartBeam IMRT, a state-of-the-art planning and delivery system designed by Varian Medical Systems.

SmartBeam IMRT uses computer-generated images to plan and then deliver tightly focused radiation beams to cancerous tumors. Clinicians use it to precisely "paint" the tumor with a customized radiation beam that conforms as closely as possible to the shape of the tumor. SmartBeam IMRT can be used to treat tumors that might have been considered untreatable in the past due to close proximity of vital organs and structures. Currently, IMRT is being used to treat cancers of the prostate, head and neck, breast, thyroid and lung, as well as in gynecologic, liver and brain tumors and lymphomas and sarcomas.

Internal Radiation Therapy/Brachytherapy/Seed Treatment

Preplan - Based on ultrasound volume study prior to prostate seed implant procedure
Postplan - Based on CT scans two weeks after prostate seed implant procedure
Postseed CT - Digital reconstructed radiograph of CT two weeks after prostate implant procedure

Our physicians at Central Florida Cancer Care Center also perform internal radiation therapy, also referred to as brachytherapy or seed treatment. Internal radiation therapy allows your doctor to give a higher total dose of radiation to a smaller area often with a single procedure saving time as compared to daily external radiation treatment. It can be used alone or in combination with external beam irradiation.

When your physician recommends a radioactive implant as part of your treatment, it involves many steps and usually the use of an operating room to allow you to have anesthetic so that you will not experience any pain from the placing of the implant. The first step is preplanning your implant which requires taking measurements, mapping and determining the proper number of seeds and their proper strength. The procedure is typically performed in a single day and does not require an overnight stay in the hospital.

The day of the procedure, your radiation oncologist and your surgeon will perform the implant together. While under an anesthetic, your doctors will utilize both ultrasound and fluoroscopy (x-rays) to make certain that the preplan is carried out with accuracy in the placing of your seeds.

The majority of our prostate implants are done with Palladium-103 (Pd-103); we also use Iodine-125 (I-125) for implants. Prostate seed implants are permanent, meaning they are not removed. With a half-life of 17 days, Palladium-103 seeds emit low energy gamma rays and the patient effectively shields most of the radiation emitted. The treatment is given based on which isotope is utilized; for Pd-103 the bulk of the treatment is completed in 34 days and for I-125 in 120 days. You will experience symptoms of irritation during urination but should not have severe pain.

Low-Energy Electron-Beam

Electron beams are emitted from the linear accelerator with a relatively low energy (typically 4 to 6 MeV) and penetrate only the outer 2-3 cm of the patient's body.  The patient's skin and superficial lymph nodes are treated with electron beam irradiation while the rest of the body is not subjected to any significant amount of radiation.

SonArray

Used primarily in the treatment of prostate cancer, the SonArray system employs 3-D ultrasound imaging and optical technology for real-time tumor tracking. SonArray provides clinicians with 3-D ultrasound images of the target to ensure that the target is properly positioned to receive the daily radiation dose.

High-resolution radiation therapy techniques like IMRT enable doctors to plan and deliver radiation doses that conform tightly to the three-dimensional contours of a tumor. However, radiation therapy for prostate and other forms of cancer is generally delivered daily over a six- to eight-week period. Research has shown that the position of the tumor changes each day due to normal physiological processes. Even when patients are placed in precisely the same position for their daily treatments, some tumors can shift by as much as two to three centimeters over six to eight weeks of therapy. SonArray, however, enables doctors to see and adjust for changes in tumor position, so they can shrink the margin of healthy tissue treated. This can make a big difference in treatment outcomes and in a cancer survivor's post-treatment quality of life.

CT Simulation

Our center features a GE helical CT Scanner as well as an Oldelft Simulator. Computed tomography (CT) planning is a sophisticated procedure that uses special x-ray equipment to obtain cross-sectional pictures of the body. The CT computer displays these pictures as detailed images and provides information about the size and location of the tumor and normal anatomy, allowing the physician to customize each patient's treatment plan.

High-Dose Rate (HDR) Therapy

High-dose rate brachytherapy involves placing a radioactive source of high strength directly into the tumor using specialized instruments. With the use of computerized treatment planning, physicians can vary the radiation dosage and placement, resulting in more precise treatment and potentially less harm to healthy tissue.

HDR brachytherapy allows highly localized doses of radiation to be delivered to the tumor quickly, each treatment takes approximates 10-15 minutes of actual treatment time. It may be used alone or with external beam radiation therapy to treat the cancer. At Central Florida Cancer Care Center, HDR Brachytherapy is being used in the treatment of gynecologic, lung, skin, and breast cancers.

MammoSite

Central Florida Cancer Care Center is the first in Seminole County to offer patients with breast cancer the MammoSite^® Radiation Therapy System (RTS).

MammoSite RTS is a radiation therapy device that internally delivers radiation directly to the tissue surrounding the original tumor, where recurrence is most likely. MammoSite RTS minimizes radiation exposure to healthy tissue and reduces the length of treatment from five to seven weeks to five days.

The MammoSite device is a balloon catheter that is inserted into the cavity by your surgeon created at the time of your lumpectomy (the surgical removal of a breast tumor). After implantation, radiation is delivered directly to the tissue surrounding the original tumor from a source placed inside the balloon. MammoSite RTS delivers radiation from inside the lumpectomy cavity over a course of five days. The device targets radiation to the area where tumors are most likely to recur, while minimizing exposure to healthy tissue in the breast, chest and lungs.