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Beating late-stage cancers

January 12, 2024

Radiation is one of the key treatments in the fight against all forms of cancer. More than 650 thousand people in the U.S. will receive radiation to try and wipe out their disease.Now, a new radiation therapy is turning cancer against itself.

This year, 230 thousand men and women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with lung cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, about 400 thousand people will be diagnosed with bone cancer.

For late-stage malignant bone and lung cancers, survival is measured in months, not years, but now, a new type of targeted radiotherapy is turning cancer cells against themselves.

Radiation oncologists at the city of hope are some of the first to use the reflection x one linear accelerator. It’s the world’s first real-time linear accelerator to help visualize the cancer.

The reflection x one can see precisely where to aim the beams of radiation, even when the tumor is moving. This decreases the risk of damaging healthy cells during radiation, giving doctors, and their patients another tool to help track down cancer and destroy it.

Earlier this year, the reflection x one received clearance from the FDA to treat primary or metastatic lung and bone cancer tumors.