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RECTAL CANCER

A Highly Precise, Personalized Treatment for Rectal Cancer

A treatment for rectal cancer that revolves around you

Advances in care mean there are more options than ever for people diagnosed with rectal cancer. The first step in treating locally advanced rectal cancer is typically radiation therapy and chemotherapy, when the patient is healthy enough for both. Innovations in radiation therapy will help to ensure patients receive the most effective treatment for their particular medical condition. The Radixact® System, the next-generation TomoTherapy® platform, is the first in the world that is capable of helical radiation delivery – continuously delivering high-quality helical fan-beam imaging for accurate image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IG-IMRT) from multiple 360-degrees rotations around your body – providing a highly precise, personalized and non-invasive option for treating advanced rectal cancer.

A more precise option: Treat the cancer. Minimize damage to healthy tissue

Radiation therapy is a proven treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer and is typically used before surgery – with or without chemotherapy – to reduce the size of the tumor, with the ultimate goal of curing the disease. However, radiation delivered to surrounding organs, such as the bowel and bladder, may lead to life-changing side effects, making it critically important for the radiation to be delivered with extreme accuracy and precision. The Radixact System, featuring TomoTherapy technology, combines multiple 360-degree treatment delivery with powerful dose-sculpting capabilities, providing greater control of the radiation dose so it conforms precisely to the tumor and helps minimize damage to healthy tissues. The result is a radiation therapy treatment that maximizes effectiveness while helping to preserve gastrointestinal and genitourinary function, which may lead to better quality of life for patients both during and after treatment.

Key treatment benefits of the Radixact System using TomoTherapy technology

  • Non-surgical and non-invasive
  • Good cancer control
  • Significantly reduces common side effects
  • Most patients can continue normal activity throughout treatment
  • Can be used in combination with chemotherapy and other treatments

Ask a physician if Radixact treatment is right for you

You deserve the best possible treatment for your rectal cancer. Find a physician in your area offering the Radixact System — and find out if Radixact treatment is right for you.

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A clinically proven treatment for rectal cancer

The Radixact System with TomoTherapy technology is one of the most integrated, advanced systems for comprehensive cancer treatment available today and is typically used to treat locally advanced rectal cancer. Studies conducted using the TomoTherapy technology have shown good results:

  • Patients enrolled in two studies received simultaneous daily radiation and a targeted radiation boost over a 25-session time period. The TomoTherapy platform’s unique architecture enabled the delivery of a high dose of radiation, directly to the tumor, through the integrated boost of radiation, while minimizing radiation dose delivered to organs in close proximity to the targeted tumor. Patients in the studies experienced improved treatment results and reduced side effects 1, 2 .
  • Treatment with TomoHelical™ is safe, with low rates of severe toxicity. Radiation delivered with helical TomoTherapy following daily imaging with the platform’s integrated CT imaging capabilities allowed for the reduction of treatment margins around the tumor, so less normal tissue was irradiated. The authors highlighted a “clear reduction in the rates of acute and late non-hematological toxicities” when compared to a randomized trial evaluating the use of 2D- or conformal 3D-RT techniques, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) 3.
  • TomoHelical used simultaneously to deliver daily radiation treatments and a targeted radiation dose boost to the primary tumor was able to significantly reduce the volume of the tumor, while minimizing dose to surrounding organs-at-risk. This enabled surgeons to perform sphincter-preserving surgery while removing the remaining tumor in 80.1 percent of patients in the study, thereby increasing the chance of maintaining normal bowel function and preserving quality of life 2.

IG-IMRT: A more precise option for rectal cancer treatment

Radiation therapy can provide a non-surgical, non-invasive treatment option for many rectal cancer patients, typically for locally advanced cases. An extremely precise type of radiation therapy, called image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IG-IMRT), may offer precise dose-delivery to enhance treatment efficacy while helping to reduce the risk of effects.

The TomoTherapy platform, including the next-generation Radixact System, is the only system designed from the ground up to deliver IG-IMRT and was the first to feature helical radiation delivery and integrated CT imaging – providing greater control of the radiation dose so it conforms precisely to the tumor and helps minimize dose to healthy tissue.

Instead of a single beam of radiation, the TomoTherapy platform divides each beam into many smaller, narrow “beamlets.” Every beamlet is individually optimized to a specific intensity of radiation that is targeted at the tumor, enabling customized and precise treatment delivery. Thousands of these beamlets combine in the tumor to contribute to the total radiation dose each patient has been uniquely prescribed. This is called intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). An enhanced form of IMRT – image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy
(IG-IMRT) – uses images acquired before each treatment to help ensure accurate patient and tumor positioning.

A non-invasive option

Radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy is typically the primary treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. Radiation therapy can also be used after surgery to remove residual cancer or when there is a high risk of the tumor coming back. Your doctor may also use radiation therapy as a treatment for cancer that has recurred in the pelvis after your initial treatment, manage symptoms such as pain or bleeding, or control cancer that has spread to other areas of the body such as the bowel or bladder.

The Radixact System provides the flexibility to adapt radiation therapy to any rectal cancer patient’s anatomy, helping to enable the delivery of extremely precise and accurate radiation doses to improve treatment outcomes and help reduce the risk of side effects that may impact patients’ quality of life.

Treatment with the Radixact System is a non-surgical, non-invasive, outpatient procedure that does not require incisions or general anesthesia. Most patients will not require hospitalization or a long recovery time.

Enabling re-treatment

Because the precise targeting of the Radixact System significantly reduces irradiation of surrounding healthy tissues, the Radixact System can be used in some particular cases as a treatment option for patients who have previously undergone radiation or surgical procedures, and those who experience a recurrence.

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References:

[1] De Bari, B., Franzetti-Pellanda, A., Saidi, A. et al. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy delivered with helical tomotherapy under daily image guidance for rectal cancer patients: efficacy and safety in a large, multi-institutional series. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 145, 1075–1084 (2019).

[2] Zhao, J., Liu, X., Wang, W. et al. Concomitant dose escalation with image-guided Tomotherapy in locally advanced mid–low rectal cancer: a single-center study. ted. Cancer Management and Research 2019:11 1579–1586.

[3] Sauer R, et al: Preoperative versus Postoperative Chemoradiotherapy for Rectal Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2004 Oct 21;351(17):1731-40.

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Important Safety Statement: Most side effects of radiotherapy, including radiotherapy delivered with Accuray systems, are mild and temporary, often involving fatigue, nausea, and skin irritation. Side effects can be severe, however, leading to pain, alterations in normal body functions (for example, urinary or salivary function), deterioration of quality of life, permanent injury and even death. Side effects can occur during or shortly after radiation treatment or in the months and years following radiation. The nature and severity of side effects depend on many factors, including the size and location of the treated tumor, the treatment technique (for example, the radiation dose), the patient’s general medical condition, to name a few. For more details about the side effects of your radiation therapy, and if treatment with an Accuray product is right for you, ask your doctor.