Improving Services for Cancer Patients

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A second linear accelerator, like the one pictured above, will be installed adjacent to the established Radiation Therapy Center at Backus.

The BackusCare expansion project includes the addition of a second linear accelerator with the latest technology available on the market. This will add to the Hospital's ability to provide its cancer patients with the latest clinical trials, technologies and treatments.

Adding a second linear accelerator housed in a new building adjacent to the Hospital's Dr. Sultan Ahamed Radiation Therapy Center will help alleviate waiting lists for services, and bring exciting new technology for treatment of cancer patients.

The second linear accelerator will include Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) capabilities, which represents a huge advance in the delivery of more accurate radiation therapy. It allows physicians to vary the intensity of radiation patterns, which enables them to prescribe a higher dose of radiation to the tumor, and minimize the dose to surrounding areas of the body.

In addition to IMRT, the linear accelerator will also be equipped with Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), making Backus the first site in New England with this exciting new technology.

IGRT addresses one of the critical issues clinicians face when delivering radiotherapy: seeing what they are treating. It allows for the tumor to be treated in a 3-D manner by delivering radiation from a variety of directions and angles. IGRT allows physicians to verify the position of the tumor and surrounding structures each and every time the patient is treated.

The addition of IGRT to our Comprehensive Community Cancer Center is a major development, because it puts us at the cutting edge of cancer treatment technology. Backus will be one of very few hospitals in the nation to possess this technology, and clinicians from around the world will be visiting us and watching our progress.

Advanced imaging technology provides detailed views of a tumor’s position and the most minute changes that occur during treatment.