The Kirklin Clinic® at Acton Road is the first facility in Alabama and only the 10th in the United States to offer the Tomotherapy HI-ART (Highly Integrated Adaptive Radiotherapy) System.

The Tomotherapy System is the most advanced radiation system available, and the first to provide 3-D imaging immediately prior to each treatment to verify the specific location of a patient’s tumor. While conventional radiotherapy delivers a wide beam of radiation from several different directions, this system delivers highly targeted radiation beams to the exact tumor site.

Tomotherapy is a specific type of radiation therapy treatment that utilizes a dedicated IMRT delivery device with CT-based image guidance. IMRT or intensity modulated radiation therapy is especially useful when a tumor wraps around or has a concave relationship with a sensitive normal structure tumor.

The Tomotherapy machine resembles a traditional CT scanner but it has the capability to both image and treat the tumor without the patient moving or changing position. CT localization allows physicians to accurately treat the tumor with less margin and relatively protect the normal tissue. Because normal tissue receives less radiation, the side effects of therapy may be less than other forms of radiation therapy.

Clinical trials are planned to increase the tumor dose in some cases or decrease the number of times that a patient may need to come for treatment.
Patients with Tumors expected to benefit from Tomotherapy include those with:

• Prostate Cancer. Protocols are currently under development to decrease the overall length of treatment time from eight weeks currently to approximately five weeks.
• Spinal tumors (primary or metastatic). A clinical trial is now open for patients to receive one (spinal radiosurgery) to five fractions of radiation therapy with Tomotherapy instead of several weeks of treatment. This will allow patients to come fewer times for treatment and avoid delays in receiving chemotherapy in many cases.
• Brain tumors. Many patients with meningiomas or pituitary tumors are not candidates for radiosurgery and required fractionated treatment. Tomotherapy's CT guidance limits the normal tissue exposed to radiation.
• Head and neck cancer. Using sophisticated IMRT treatments the parotid glands can be protected in some patients. UAB has several research studies utilizing IMRT for head and neck cancer.
• Other tumor types including retreatment of patients who have had prior radiation therapy.

Like all forms of radiation therapy, Tomotherapy is a local or regional treatment and does not go all over the body to destroy tumor cells. It is generally only potentially curative for patients with localized (non-metastatic) tumors. Patients with metastatic tumors may still benefit in terms of relief of sympyoms.