Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (sometimes called Image-Guided Adaptive Radiation Therapy, or IGART) is a method of disease management that stresses monitoring patient treatment during treatment delivery, by using advanced imaging technology.
In traditional radiation treatment, a patient's disease is diagnosed, staged and imaged at the beginning of treatment, and the information is used to plan treatment for the whole of the course. Thanks to the advances in imaging treatment, doctors now know that the patient's anatomy and the tumor's size and shape can change during the entire treatment process. As such, plans made early on may not be appropriate at any time during in the treatment course.
IGRT uses the advances in imaging to track these changes through all stages of treatment. By re-imaging and modifying the treatment plan, radiation oncologists are able to respond as the disease reacts to the therapy. This results in better treatment for the patient, more precise and effective radiation therapy, and fewer side effects.
