Treatment of a cancerous tumour by inserting radioactive material into the growth or into neighbouring tissue. Using this method, also called brachytherapy, radiation can be targeted at the diseased area.
Radioactive material (usually artificial radioisotopes) contained in wires, small tubes, or seeds is then implanted into or near the diseased tissue under general anaesthesia. The material is left in place for variable amounts of time depending on the radioactive substance and the tumour being treated. (See also intracavitary therapy; radiotherapy.)... interstitial radiotherapy
(IGRT) the process of imaging during a course of radiation treatment to verify the internal position of the target in comparison to the initial planning scan. This enables adjustment of *treatment fields to improve coverage and allows the use of smaller treatment volumes. The possible methods for IGRT include cone beam CT, *tomotherapy, *cyberknife, and ultrasound and kilovoltage X-rays of implanted fiducial markers.... image-guided radiotherapy
(IMRT) radiotherapy using multiple beams with variable intensity across each field, resulting in dose distributions that can fit to concave shapes and thus reduce dose to surrounding healthy tissues and organs. It can be used to treat a wide range of cancers and can enable safe delivery of higher doses to tumours.... intensity-modulated radiotherapy
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