New radiation therapy reduces treatment of gynaecologic cancers from five weeks to three days

About 71,500 women in the United States are diagnosed with a gynaecologic cancer every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Researchers from University Hospitals Case Medical Center have developed a more effective way to treat gynaecologic cancers, shortening radiation treatment time from five weeks to three days.
The new method, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) has been used on other types of cancer, but University Hospitals Case Medical Center is the first treatment facility to apply it to gynaecologic cancers.
Dr. Charles Kunos, who co-authored the article, said the radiation therapy machine ‘looks like a robot you would make cars with, and targets specific cancer cells.’
Unlike traditional radiation therapy, SBRT uses focused radiation beams and targets well-defined tumours. In order to focus in on the region, the tumours need to be imaged and marked (using fiduciary markers) in advance. During treatment with the Cyberknife system (from Accuray), patients need to be immobilised, and even the movement from the patient