Radiation Treatments at the University of Colorado Cancer Center

The University of Colorado Cancer Center’s Radiation Therapy Clinic provides leading-edge treatment options for patients with cancer and other conditions.

Traditional external-beam treatment

A type of radiation therapy that uses a machine to aim high-energy rays directly at the cancer site or tumor.

3-D (three dimensional) conformal treatment

External beam therapy that uses a CT scan to show the tumor’s exact location, size and shape. We use this information to aim the radiation beams exactly at the tumor, which shrinks the dose your normal tissue gets.

Body and brain stereotactic radio surgery: Shaped Beam Surgery

We are national leaders in this type of minimally invasive treatment. Novalis® Shaped Beam Surgery is often used when traditional surgery is not possible because of your general health, age or the cancer’s location. Shaped Beam Surgery can be used to treat:

• Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs)
• Brain metastases/Gliomas
• Acoustic neuromas
• Intractable seizures
• Pediatric brain tumors
• Recurrent brain tumors
• Pituitary adenomas
• Meningiomas of the skull base
• Craniopharyngiomas
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Spine, prostate, liver and lung malignancies

High-dose-rate remote afterloaded brachytherapy

Radioactive material sealed inside needles, seeds, wires or catheters is placed directly into or near a tumor.

• Also called internal radiation, implant radiation or interstitial radiation therapy.
• We are the only Radiation Therapy Oncology Group-approved site in Colorado that can perform brachytherapy for locally advanced prostate cancer.

Low-dose-rate permanent seed implants

Radioactive seeds are implanted into a body site, usually the prostate, where they give off radiation. The amount of radiation decreases over time until the seeds are no longer radioactive.

Total body irradiation

The entire body receives a low dose of radiation to wipe out the bone marrow before a bone marrow transplant.

Virtual planning and treatment simulation via MRI/CT fusion

Our PhD-level scientists merge the information about your cancer gathered through an MRI and CT scan to determine exactly where the tumor is located. We use this information to plan for 3-D conformal treatment and Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT).

Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT)

We modify the amount of radiation from external beam therapy by using multiple blocks and shields during treatment. By adjusting the radiation’s intensity, we can make sure the tumor gets the optimum dose and normal tissue and structures get minimized doses.

• We are the only Radiation Therapy Oncology Group-approved site in the Rocky Mountain region allowed to perform IMRT for national research studies.
• We have extensive experience using IMRT.

The Radiation Oncology Group at the University of Colorado has extensive experience using this technique and is the only RTOG approved site in the Rocky Mountain region allowed to perform IMRT for national protocols. External beam therapy in which the intensity of the radiation is modified by using multiple blocking and shielding changes during treatment on all treatment fields. By adjusting the intensity of the radiation, optimum dose can be given to the desired site or sites while decreasing the dose to normal tissue and structures.