Radiation Therapy
If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, your doctor may recommend radiation therapy as part of your integrated cancer treatment strategy. Radiation therapy is used for treating certain malignant cancers as well as nonmalignant conditions. It may be used in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy.
At Medical Associates Clinic, your radiation oncologist works with other experts on your care team, such as medical oncologists, hematologists, radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, genetic counselors and mental health professionals to provide whole-person care as you undergo radiation and other therapies.
Our radiation oncology services are provided at the new, MercyOne Dubuque Cancer Center. This comprehensive cancer center is more than just a clinic facility. It provides a complete array of holistic services for cancer patients that are not currently available anywhere in our service area. Offering you outstanding clinical care, emotional support, and guidance all in one location means you don’t have to coordinate your appointments across multiple specialties and services or travel to several locations to receive care.
What is Radiation Therapy?
Radiation therapy is used to kill cancer cells and shrink your tumors. Radiation damages cells making it impossible for these cells to continue to grow and divide. Although radiation does damage cancer and normal cells, most normal cells can recover from the effects of radiation and function properly. The goal is to damage as many of your cancer cells as possible and limit harm to your healthy tissue.
Radiation Therapy treats cancers of:
- Brain
- Breast
- Cervix
- Head and neck
- Esophagus
- Larynx
- Lung
- Pancreas
- Lymphoma
- Prostate
- Rectum and anus
- Skin
- Spine
- Stomach
- Uterus
- Soft tissue sarcomas
Technology and Techniques
The Medical Associates Radiation Oncology department offers state-of-the-art radiation therapy treatments. They are located at the MercyOne Dubuque Cancer Center.
- Varian TruBeam linear accelerator
- IMRT/IGRT (Intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy)
- Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)
- Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)
- Optune device for glioblastoma patients
- Optical surface positioning and tracking
- Deep inspiration breath hold (DIBH)
- Fiberoptic Laryngoscope
