Cancer radiotherapy is a treatment to kill cancerous cells by irradiating a lesion over a period of days. The effect and side-effects of the treatment are confined to the body areas that are subject to irradiation, with little weakening of immune strength. Radiotherapy plays a major role in alleviating pain and bleeding in patients with advanced cancer, in addition to cancer treatment.
The MR LINAC that our hospital has introduced is capable of accurately irradiating lesions while monitoring them in real time with high-resolution MRI images. It enables us to minimize the effect on healthy tissues, even when cancerous and healthy organs move due to breathing and other causes. In a nutshell, safe and high-precision radiotherapy can improve treatment outcomes, reduce side-effects, and shorten the period of treatment.

Cancer radiotherapy using MR LINAC has the following advantages.

• Imposing a reduced burden on the body and generating high effects
• Cancerous lesion and healthy tissues can be viewed more clearly compared with CT
• Radiotherapy can be conducted while "viewing" the lesion in real time
• Being able to directly monitor the lesion can safely narrow down the range of irradiation
• Capable of responding immediately to changes in the location and size of the cancer
• Capable of better confirming the effect of the treatment compared with CT
• No radiation exposure when confirming the area to be irradiated

As radiotherapy has the following characteristics, the introduction of MR LINAC is expected to provide more options for patients:

• Widely used for treating cancers in the breast, lung, prostate, head, neck, esophagus and cervix, etc.
• Can be used to treat the elderly and patients suffering from complications
• Leaves the functions and shape of healthy organs intact
• Allows patients to continue work and other tasks during the treatment as they are treated mainly on an outpatient-basis.
• Can be combined with surgical and/or drug therapies.