Advanced Mixed Beam Therapy using MERT and IMRT Jinsheng Li,
Ph.D (Jinsheng.Li@fccc.edu) and Chang-Ming Ma, Ph.D. Fox Chase
Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111 Radiation therapy, the
treatment of cancer using radiation, has proven to be one of the
most efficient methods to control tumor growth. The most common
radiation used for cancer treatment is electrons and photons
(particles of light). They operate on the same principle: to
kill the cancer cell by damaging its DNA. The difference between
them is that a photon beam can penetrate tissue well, while an
electron beam has a limited treatment range. Its radiation dose
falls off rapidly as one moves farther along the direction of
the beam. Utilizing this special property of the electron beam
and combining it with photon beams benefits the treatment of
shallow tumors in the sense that it spares the normal tissue and
healthy organs around the tumor. An electron beam acts over a
range that is proportional to its energy. Therefore, in order to
have a uniform dos