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Treatment Techniques

A medical professional in a white lab coat is standing and talking to a seated patient wearing a colorful floral blouse and black pants. They are in a treatment room with a large Elekta radiation therapy machine behind them. The ceiling features illuminated panels with images of flowers and succulents. The room has teal walls and medical equipment.

Ackerman Cancer Center provides the most effective, evidence-based radiation therapies available, including proton therapy, to treat all cancers. Every cancer diagnosis is unique, and every treatment plan is personalized to give patients the best chance of a cure and quality of life. We are unique and all modalities of radiation are available at Ackerman Cancer Center.

Call us at (904) 880-5522 to connect with our registered nurse, receive answers to your questions, and schedule a consultation to discuss how we can quickly get you on the path to treatment.

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Proton Therapy

Protons are sub-atomic particles that move quickly through healthy tissue, depositing cancer-destroying radiation at the tumor site. Proton therapy is the most precise, advanced radiation treatment modalities available.

In conventional radiation, x-ray beams travel through the body and cause damage to the surrounding normal tissue while destroying the tumor. Proton therapy efficiently utilizes charged particles (protons) to penetrate the same tissue and deposit nearly all of their energy directly at the tumor site, thereby reducing the risk of damage to surrounding areas.

Proton therapy can be offered alone, or in conjunction with other cancer treatments. To find out if proton therapy is right for you, click here or call us at (904) 880-5522.

Learn about Proton Therapy

Treatment Techniques at Ackerman Cancer Center

For certain superficial cancers and skin conditions, Ackerman Cancer Center offers electron beam radiation therapy using high‑energy electron beams. Electron treatments are designed to treat diseases close to the surface while reducing radiation exposure to deeper healthy tissues, making this a precise option for select cases.

Ackerman Cancer Center provides external beam radiation therapy using high‑energy X‑rays on advanced linear accelerators to safely and effectively treat cancers from head to toe. Using 3D conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT), treatment plans are customized to each patient’s unique anatomy to help target the tumor while protecting healthy tissue. Most patients receive painless daily treatments over several weeks. Each visit typically lasts less than 20 minutes, including positioning on the treatment table, cone‑beam CT imaging to align to internal anatomy, and focused treatment to the target area.

Ackerman Cancer Center offers proton therapy with a Mevion S250 proton system for eligible patients. Proton beam therapy can treat both shallow and deep tumors while helping to spare nearby organs. This is possible because the proton beam can stop near the tumor instead of passing through the body. This advanced treatment is not available at most radiation centers, but the Ackerman team has more than 10 years of proton experience, celebrating its 3,500th proton patient in 2026.

Learn about Proton Therapy at ACC

National Association for Proton Therapy

Ackerman Cancer Center provides High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy for many skin and gynecologic cancers, as well as selected breast cancers. HDR brachytherapy uses a tiny radioactive source that is temporarily placed inside or next to the treatment area to deliver radiation right at and even touching the cancerous target. This technique gives a highly focused dose to a small region and avoids the entrance and exit dose associated with external beam radiation, thereby aiding in the protection of nearby healthy tissue.  

Ackerman Cancer Center offers radiopharmaceutical therapy for certain thyroid and prostate cancers. In this treatment, patients receive a radioactive drug that travels through the bloodstream, seeks out specific cancer cells, and delivers radiation directly to those cells from within the body. This targeted approach allows a high dose of radiation to reach the disease while limiting exposure to other tissues.

Ackerman Cancer Center physicians are very experienced in the implantation of rectal spacers in preparation for prostate cancer radiation. These advanced spacers create distance between the prostate and rectum to reduce side effects like irritation. One option, BioProtect, is a biodgradable balloon that provides significant separation between the rectum and prostate, allowing the radiation beams to penetrate and cover the prostate without going through any part of the rectum. We recently celebrated our 250th BioProtect patient. 
 

Ackerman Cancer Center provides Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for many areas of the body, including the lung, liver, kidneys, and spine, as well as other carefully selected sites. SBRT typically involves five or fewer treatments, each delivering a very high dose of radiation to a small, precisely defined target. With advanced imaging, specialized treatment planning, and state‑of‑the‑art linear accelerators, SBRT allows patients to complete treatment in fewer visits while maintaining accuracy and safety. Frequently, patients receiving SBRT experience very few side effects. 

Stereotactic Radiosurgery is a nonsurgical, highly precise form of radiation therapy that reaches tumors deep inside the body without the risks of traditional surgery. Ackerman Cancer Center utilizes GammaKnife® to help reduce radiation exposure to healthy tissue, which is especially important for areas like the brain and lungs.

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