Radiation Oncology
Our experience and State-of-the-Art equipment gives us the edge to aggressively treat cancer.
El Portal Comprehensive Cancer Center is excited to announce a new era in multidisciplinary cancer treatment in Merced. Patient’s here have the advantage of seeing a medical oncologist, radiation oncologist and surgeon all in one visit. “This new generation of treatment technology represents a major step in the fight against cancer.” Using a team approach our professionals work together to consider all treatment options and develop an individual treatment plan for each patient.
A Comprehensive Approach
Cancer doctors usually treat cancer with radiation therapy, surgery or medications, including chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and/or biologic therapy, either alone or in combination. If your cancer can be treated with radiation, you will be referred to a radiation oncologist – a doctor who specializes in treating patients with radiation therapy. Your radiation oncologist will work with your primary doctor and other cancer specialists, such as surgeons and medical oncologists, to oversee your care. He or she will discuss the details of your cancer with you, the role of radiation therapy in your overall treatment plan and what to expect from your treatment.
How Does Radiation Therapy Work?
Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, is the use of various forms of radiation to safely and effectively treat cancer and other diseases. Radiation oncologists may use radiation to cure cancer, to control the growth of the cancer or to relieve symptoms, such as pain.
Radiation therapy works by damaging cells. Normal cells are able to repair themselves, whereas cancer cells cannot. New techniques also allow doctors to better target the radiation to protect healthy cells.
Sometimes radiation therapy is the only treatment a patient needs. At other times, it is only one part of a patient’s treatment. For example, prostate and larynx cancer are often treated with radiotherapy alone, while a woman with breast cancer may be treated with surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Radiation may also be used to make your primary treatment more effective. For example, you can be treated with radiation therapy before surgery to help shrink the cancer and allow less extensive surgery than would otherwise be needed, or you may be treated with radiation after surgery to destroy small amounts of cancer that may have been left behind.
A radiation oncologist may choose to use radiation therapy in a number of different ways. Sometimes the goal is to cure the cancer.
Sometimes, the overall goal is to slow down the cancer as much as possible. In other cases, the goal is to reduce the symptoms caused by growing tumors and to improve your quality of life. When radiation therapy is administered for this purpose, it is called palliative care or palliation.
It is important for you to discuss the goal of your treatment with your radiation oncologist in our California Cancer Center.
State of the Art Equipment
- Maximizes Effectiveness
With IGRT, higher doses of radiation can be focused and delivered directly to tumors and cancer cells. - Minimizes Risks
With the accuracy of the Radiation Treatment field placement, with daily CT guidance, exposure of the tissue can be reduced. Therefore, less side effects from Radiation Treatment. - Maximizes Visualization
El Portal Merced Cancer houses Merced CT the newest CT Examinations in the North Valley. We are now capable of integrating the CT images into our treatment planning for 3D conformal Radiation Treatment.