Radiation Therapy

We realize the thought of radiation can seem scary at first. But it doesn't have to be, especially at Nebraska Medicine where we walk with you every step of your journey through cancer. 

We'll help you get answers to questions like: 

• What are the potential side effects?
• Is radiation really necessary?
• How will it enhance my chance of survival?

We realize having to undergo radiation to rid your body of cancer or relieve pain can generate a lot of questions. We would like to have the opportunity to meet with you to discuss your diagnosis and help answer your specific questions. We use radiation on our patients that need it, and for the majority, it effectively helps remove the cancer.

Receiving radiation treatment is nothing like what many imagine. Dramatic improvements over the past two decades help our doctors spare healthy tissue by more precisely targeting cancer cells. 

Our radiation therapy doctors work closely with other specialists too, combining it when necessary with surgery, chemotherapy and other treatments to help maximize your chances of gaining a healthy future.

Why Nebraska Medicine for Radiation Therapy:

World-renowned Cancer Care Near You 

Patients come from all over the globe to see some of our cancer doctors, because here you get not only doctors with international reputations, you also receive the latest cutting-edge cancer treatments and equipment. If you happen to live in the greater Omaha area, we strive to bring these services near your doorstep, from Village Pointe in West Omaha. World-renowned cancer care near you. Why wouldn't you want to at least come talk to us? 

We Can Target Tumors with Great Precision

Nebraska Medicine uses TrueBeam™ stereotactic radiosurgery technology, which offers patients more precise stereotactic radiotherapy treatment. It shapes radiation beams to match the exact contour of a tumor or lesion, so even those that are irregularly shaped receive direct radiation treatment, limiting damage to adjacent tissues and organs.

Cutting-edge Procedures

Take advantage of tomorrow's health care treatments today. Because we conduct many clinical trials, we are helping to design the techniques, therapies and treatments other hospitals will someday use. We can help get you that access right now. 

All the Services in One Location Near You

We offer our comprehensive radiation services and newest technologies at the Nebraska Medical Center and Village Pointe in Omaha, NE providing convenience for patients requiring radiation therapy treatments. At Village Pointe you can even drive right up and park just outside the door. 

Our Team 

Radiation is often part of a larger treatment process. In order to tailor each treatment program to fit the unique aspects of your cancer, our team is made up of a variety of doctors from different disciplines, bringing expert advice to every case. Above all, we strive to make sure you know you're not alone in this. In fact, we view our team as revolving around the specifics of you and your case.

Some Advanced Therapies We Offer:

Respiratory Gating

This therapy permits a reduction in the amount of normal tissue treated.

Using a multi-slice, four-dimensional computerized tomography (CT) scanner (the fourth dimension is time) and computers capable of storing and manipulating over 1,500 CT images, doctors measure a patient's range of motion during breathing and plan a tailored treatment specific to the breathing cycles. During the actual respiratory gated treatment, the radiation beam is continuously turned on and off to synchronize delivery of the radiation during the optimal point of the patient's respiration cycle. Simply put, the treatment matches your breathing. Patients with breast, lung, liver, pancreas and possibly kidney cancer can often benefit from this type of enhanced treatment.

Partial Beam Irradiation

Is a targeted radiation therapy option for some early-stage breast cancer patients. A low-energy radiation therapy, partial beam irradiation offers two advantages to traditional radiation therapy.

First, it provides a targeted dose of radiation therapy to the surgical site at the time of surgery, not the entire breast.

Second, it may eliminate the six-week daily regimen of radiation therapy that normally accompanies lumpectomy without compromising the outcome in favor of a 5-day regimen called the MammoSite®. After removing a breast cancer tumor, a balloon catheter is placed inside the breast. Targeted radiation therapy is delivered directly to the area where cancer is most likely to recur, allowing a full course of radiation to be delivered in just five days.

Image-guided Radiation Therapy

This therapy uses X-ray and CT scans to precisely target a tumor for daily radiation treatment.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)

This is another technique used to deliver highly accurate doses of radiation to irregularly shaped tumors with fewer adverse side effects.

Pencil-thin beams of varied intensity conform the radiation to the shape of the tumor, allowing physicians to attack the cancer with higher doses of radiation while minimizing damage to nearby healthy tissue and organs. We were the first health system in Omaha to offer this, and remain the most experienced health system in the region.

Brachytherapy

This is a form of radiation involving the placement of radioactive sources into a tumor or in an area where a tumor was removed.

This technique allows for the delivery of high doses of radiation therapy while simultaneously sparing normal tissue. Brachytherapy is often used to treat prostate, gynecologic and breast malignancies. The high dose rate unit at Nebraska Medicine allows for some brachytherapy procedures to be performed as an outpatient.

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is an alliance of the world’s leading cancer centers, working together to develop national treatment guidelines for cancers based on the latest research.

National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designation

This designation recognizes that Nebraska Medicine can offer patients options for prevention, diagnosis and treatment and access to clinical trials not available elsewhere.

Blue Distinction Center

Nebraska Medicine was the first hospital in the state to receive the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, Blue Distinction Center for Complex and Rare Cancers.

American College of Radiology

The American College of Radiology (ACR), in partnership with American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO), recognizes quality standards in radiation therapy for treatment planning and delivery, patient safety, personnel expertise, and on-going commitment to quality improvement.