New prostate cancer radiation treatment increases accuracy
August 22nd, 2008 Posted in radiation therapyOfficials of Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa announced that Calypso, a new advanced prostate cancer treatment that helps doctors deliver focused doses of radiation with greater accuracy, is now available at the Mercy Cancer Center in Mason City,
It has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.
The Calypso System enables doctors to attack the disease more aggressively while doing everything possible to reduce side effects, McKone said.
In an outpatient procedure similar to a biopsy, Beacon electromagnetic transponders are implanted in a patient’s prostate. Each transponder is about as small as a grain of rice.
During radiation treatment, the Beacon transponders communicate with the Calypso System using safe radiofrequency waves. The system shows with great precision exactly where the radiation target is during radiation treatment.