While no one wants to hear the “C” word, if that’s a crossroad you (or a loved one) have to face, we know you’ll want to fight it with the best modern medicine can offer. You’ll also quickly learn why the Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator (LINAC) is such a big deal.
Available at all Novant Health Cancer facilities (one of the few NC health care systems offering the treatment), the LINAC is a tumor-targeting radiation treatment able to accurately pinpoint most cancers, including brain, prostate, breast, lung, skin, abdominal cancer, and more.
Here are three benefits of this new cutting-edge technology:
Less (and shorter) treatments
Cancer treatment can sometimes require frequent or daily radiation treatments — that means traveling to a cancer facility and spending a potentially significant amount of time receiving treatment. The LINAC changes that by decreasing the number of visits to as few as five (that’s versus as many as 30).
Treatments are also fast — it can take only a few minutes instead of a few hours. This eases the burden of getting the critical cancer care you need.
Pinpoint accuracy
The LINAC offers two types of therapy: HyperArc (for cancers like brain tumors) and triggered imaging (for cancers like prostate cancer). Both utilize advanced imaging and motion compensation technology to pinpoint tumors down to the millimeter.
This kind of pinpoint accuracy not only effectively treats tumors (even difficult to reach ones), but it also means most of the surrounding healthy tissue stays just that: healthy.
More comfortable + minimal side effects
In addition to speed and accuracy, a LINAC treatment is more comfortable for patients. In fact, the machine has built-in music capabilities so the patient can realx and listen to music during treatment.
Precision technology also means cancer treatment side effects are minimized, including protecting critical tissues and organs + decreasing the dose of radiation in your body.
Interested in learning more? Talk to Novant Health to see if the Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator is right for you.
