RMC Radiation Oncologist

Jefferson M. Trupp, M.D., FACRO

“Radiation therapy is used today in more than half of all cancer treatments due to its unique clinical advantages, and it is becoming steadily more effective with new technologies that permit ultra-precise dose delivery,” says Jefferson M. Trupp, M.D., FACRO. “Our center is equipped with state-of-the-art capabilities that our highly trained medical staff will use for treating cancer with laser-like precision. We now have the potential to substantially improve both patient comfort and cure rates by protecting healthy tissue while delivering more powerful doses to the tumor.”

» Meet Dr. Trupp

IMRT/IGRT Radiotherapy

We offer our patients the very latest in technology and patient care, the kind no other facility in the area can match. Our latest example of this commitment in the fight against cancer is the Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT), the Image-Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT).

Though this technology will one day be the standard in radiotherapy, today RMC is one of two facilities in Alabama where this level of treatment is available. What makes it such an important breakthrough is that it allows for the first time significantly higher doses of radiation to be delivered in the most precise and controlled manner yet.

Such an exact and accurate performance not only lets our Radiation Oncologist attack a tumor with higher dosages and a more powerful beam, but it also helps spare surrounding, non-cancerous tissue. Tumors can move, both during a radiation treatment session, as well as from one treatment session to another. That can be caused by anything from normal internal organ action, like digestion or breathing, or by ever-so-slight differences in how a patient is positioned during each treatment.

But now malignancies can be seen more clearly and their exact locations verified at the beginning of and throughout each session. Paired with SmartBeam IMRT, the radiation dose can be customized and the beam actually shaped to the size, structure, and location of the targeted tumor. The result is more consistency in dosages, increased safety of non-target areas, and delivery of more radiation without requiring longer sessions.

IMRT/IGRT Radiotherapy holds the most promise for cancers of the prostate, breasts, brain, liver, lung, pancreas, uterus, nasopharynx, and head and neck.