Radiation Therapy

Swedish is the most comprehensive resource for advanced targeted radiation therapy for cancerous and noncancerous tumors, and for a variety of neurological conditions. We feature the most extensive selection of radiation technology available on the West Coast.

Active Breathing Coordinator™ (ABC) is a radiation therapy support system that turns the radiation beam on and off in response to the breathing cycle of the patient for optimal treatment.

Brachytherapy is an approach to delivering radiation treatment from a source implanted inside the body. These sources may be placed either permanently or temporarily at the tumor site.

By delivering radiation directly into a tumor, this technique spares the surrounding normal tissue any exposure to radiation and the side effects that it may bring.

This advanced procedure requires a sophisticated facility and equipment, along with highly specialized physicians and support. It is available at some Providence locations.

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) are advanced types of radiation therapies. IMRT uses advanced technology to manipulate the radiation beams to conform to the shape of a tumor. VMAT is a subtype of IMRT in which the machine actively delivers radiation beams while moving in an arc around the patient.

This method of radiation delivery offers next-generation capabilities. The arc-based therapy provided via VMAT delivers high doses of radiation to more focused areas, reducing side effects and the overall treatment time for the patient. This treatment is particularly effective at treating several types of cancer while at the same time reducing toxicity and harm to vital organs.

This procedure is one of several new ways to deliver radiation therapy. It requires a sophisticated facility and equipment, along with highly specialized physicians. It is available at some Providence locations.

Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT) is a radiation planning and treatment technique in which three-dimensional (3D) imaging enables improved targeting for radiation treatment. 3D planning with CT imaging makes radiation treatment much more conformal, or tailored to the target.

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is the delivery of high-dose radiation treatment to a target using special patient immobilization techniques and sophisticated imaging to confirm highly accurate targeting. This is commonly delivered in a single treatment. Some commonly used SRS systems are gamma knife and cyber knife.