The June E. Nylen Cancer Center seeks funding to purchase new image-guided radiation therapy and software called the On-Board Imager. The first of its kind in Siouxland, the On-Board Imager is the latest weapon in radiation treatment. The On-Board Imager will assure that our patients receive the best radiation treatment available in the region right here in Sioux City. Radiation oncologists, Drs. Greg Naden and Yat Hong Lau, are highly qualified to use this new technology.

Adding the On-Board Imager to the Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) equipment currently at the Cancer Center will allow the Center to provide Imaged Guided Radiation Therapy. With this therapy, a digital imaging system is mounted on a linear accelerator with robotically controlled arms that operate along three axes of motion. It is known as an On-Board Imager because it is positioned for the best possible view of the tumor and surrounding anatomy. The target is located and verified each day immediately before radiation therapy, on the basis of the soft tissue anatomy, rather than bony structure or tattoo. The device produces high-resolution images of the tumor real-time, and it can track tumor motion to provide doctors with a clear indication of exactly how a tumor will move during treatment due to normal breathing and movement of internal organs. On-Board Imaging, combined with the 3D precision of IMRT, will add new meaning to the word “hope” for our patients.

OBI technology benefits include:

• The ability for physicians to see the cancer real-time for better tumor definition and greater certainty, as well as making in-room adjustments to optimize the patient’s position
• A high dose treatment to a smaller precisely defined area, protecting vital structures and minimizing or eliminating troublesome side effects
• A reduction in the number of treatments and actual treatment time
• Ability to treat tumors that were previously untreatable
• The ability to treat older, frailer patients who were previously unable to tolerate a course of radiation treatments
• Greater and faster pain relief
• Giving patients a better quality and quantity of life.

The On-Board Imager costs in excess of $500,000. The timeline to raise these funds is by Feb. 24, 2007.