Novalis Radiosurgery

Your Specialized Treatment

Our integrated care offers patients a multi-disciplinary approach that could minimize or even eliminate travel to multiple clinics and doctors for each stage of the cancer treatment process. We’ve invested in Novalis Radiosurgery in order to provide cancer patients in our region with a high-quality radiotherapy alternative or complement to surgery or chemotherapy treatments that is accurate(1,2), safe(3), and takes just minutes out of your day(3). To ensure that we are providing a high level of treatment, Northeast Louisiana Cancer Institute became a Novalis Certified™ center. This certification demonstrates that we have undergone a rigorous and voluntary process in which an independent third party group of experts measures quality and safety standards in our facility. A limited number of cancer centers throughout the world have been through this process and received this important certification. Novalis Certified demonstrates our ongoing commitment to high standards in radiosurgery of the brain and body.

Why You Should Choose a Treatment Center That is Novalis Certified

Commitment to Patient Safety and Treatment Quality

• Safety: radiation safety for our patients is our #1 priority; our cancer treatment systems are properly regulated to deliver a high standard in radiation safety Certified Excellence: our systems and procedures have been independently certified
• Highly Qualified Team: all trainings are up-to-date and quality assurance policies and procedures are strictly followed
• Patient Documentation: all patients' charts, including medical information, are properly documented and managed
• Procedures and Protocols: we have adopted a practice of continual self-assessment and quality improvement to maintain excellence

FAQs

What is Radiation Therapy?

Radiosurgery and radiotherapy use high-energy treatment beams to deliver a prescribed dose directly to tumor cells, causing them to die. Treatment results, visible on follow-up scans, may include shrinkage of the tumor or no further tumor growth. Because cell destruction and absorption of those cells within the body can be a lengthy process, it may take up to six months before doctors can determine the effect of the treatment.

What is Novalis Certified?

Novalis Certified is an independent accreditation program that promotes the delivery of cranial and body radiosurgery at a level of efficacy and safety commensurate with a very high standard of clinical practice. With the achievement of Novalis Certification, our facility joins a community of centers that have demonstrated the requisite clinical capabilities at the highest standards in treatment delivery.

What is Novalis Radiosurgery?

Novalis® Radiosurgery is an advanced configuration of specialized tools dedicated to fast, precise and highly targeted SRS and SBRT treatments. The Novalis Radiosurgery Program is built on over two decades of stereotactic expertise with cutting edge software and equipment developed specifically for radiosurgery. Novalis features a dedicated high-definition beam shaping device that accurately mirrors the contour of the tumor. Constant adaptation of the beam’s shape allows clinicians to focus a high dose of treatment to a tumor from many angles. At the same time, the beam shaping allows for radically lower treatment doses near the tumor edges, which also means that there is lower dose to surrounding healthy tissue. Undergoing treatment for a tumor or lesion can be challenging, and that’s why Novalis Radiosurgery is designed with you in mind. The treatment is fast and therefore more comfortable, and reduces the likelihood of body or tumor movements, increasing overall accuracy. In addition to offering one of the fastest treatment times, Novalis Radiosurgery continuously tracks your body and tumor motion and automatically adjusts the beam of radiation, maintaining a high level of treatment accuracy.

Planning Your Radiosurgery Treatment

Using your CT and MRI scans, our team of cancer specialists utilizes Novalis Radiosurgery to build a personalized treatment plan. Novalis allows for precise(1,2) tumor location using a 3D reconstruction of the tumor-affected area of the body. The most appropriate dose and treatment configuration is then determined, and a series of quality checks are performed to ensure that your radiation treatments will be delivered accurately(1,2) and safely(3).

Delivering Your Radiation Treatment

After planning, you are taken to the Novalis Radiosurgery treatment room, where a member of our oncology team positions you on the table to receive the radiation dose determined during pre-planning. You are able to communicate with our oncology treatment team during the session. Novalis Radiosurgery treatments require no incision* and each session typically lasts between fifteen and thirty minutes. Most patients are able to go home after each treatment session. Some treatment courses can even be completed in just one session.

Our goal is to provide personalized care for our patients and their families through a high quality, multi-disciplinary approach to cancer treatment. Novalis Radiosurgery is at the heart of our cancer treatment program, and our collaborative approach to care allows us to provide you with an all-in-one treatment experience that can allow you to return to normal activities of daily life instead of traveling to see different centers and specialists.

*Some doctors may opt for a minimally invasive head frame for certain treatments.

(1) van Santvoort et al., IJROBP 72(1), 261, 2008

(2)Jin et al., Radiosurgery 6, 50, 2006

(3)Leonardo Frighetto, MD, Antonio A. F. De Salles, MD, PhD, Paul Medin, PhD, Michael Selch, MD; Shaped Beam Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy for the Brain and Spine; Techniques in Neurosurgery Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 204–217