Novalis TX Cancer Treatment

UCLA has added a new tool to its cancer-fighting arsenal, a state-of-the-art, image-guided device that provides more accurate, concentrated doses of radiation, allowing patients to be treated in fewer visits with fewer side effects.

The UCLA Department of Radiation Oncology is the first center in the Los Angeles area to install the Novalis Tx, a noninvasive stereotactic radiosurgery machine that includes three imaging modalities. The modalities track the location of tumors during respiration and other movement and allow physicians to pinpoint the tumor and position the patient so that radiation is delivered with the highest precision to the cancerous tissue while protecting the healthy surrounding tissues.

The Novalis Tx has an advanced system that continuously shapes the radiation beam to mirror the tumor's size and dimensions as the machine rotates around the patient, delivering treatment from different angles. In addition, the platform holding the patient moves not only side to side and up and down but also rotates around a vertical axis.

Physicians using the machine have likened it to a high-performance sports car with all the bells and whistles that make such a vehicle desirable.

"This Novalis Tx is like having a really nice BMW. With it, you get all the basic features of stereotactic radiosurgery, but you also get all these amazing high-tech accessories," said Dr. Percy Lee, assistant professor of radiation oncology at UCLA and director of the stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) program, which will employ the Novalis Tx to treat localized tumors. "This machine has state-of-the-art features like the multiple imaging modalities to cover every clinical circumstance and make it more precise and accurate."

In some cases, the Novalis Tx can reduce the period of radiation needed from six weeks of daily treatments to just three to five days because of the high doses that can be delivered using the SBRT approach, Lee said. This results in less radiation to the neighboring normal tissues, greatly reducing side effects while also improving tumor control rates.

Learn more at www.radonc.ucla.edu

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Novalis TX Treatment
• cancer fighting tool
• radiation
• state-of-the-art
• Dr. Percy Lee
• Dr. Michael Selch
• UCLA Radiation Oncology

[gukonni]

I bet something like this in 20-40 years is going to be what reduces cancer down to the danger of the flu or something else.

[sopylama1]

hi, nice informative video. is it possible if you can tell me what the difference between this Novalis TX and the Gamma Knife. They're both non-invasive and direct specific beams at areas of the brain....

thanks