Blog

In the last decade, the leaps that have been made in the field of radiotherapy and immunotherapy have been impressive, leading to a real revolution in cancer treatment. Advances in radiotherapy technology have allowed for more targeted and effective treatments, while immunotherapy has opened up new horizons in oncology, strengthening the body’s immune system to fight cancer naturally.  

Radiation therapy

There is now a rapid technological evolution, with the impressive progress of artificial intelligence, the development of advancedlinear accelerators and the improvement of imaging methods, such as MRI and PET/CT. These innovations allow the tumor to be targeted with extreme precision during radiotherapy, improving treatment planning and ensuring that healthy tissue exposure is minimized.

Therefore, the effectiveness of the treatment is significantly increased, offering better clinical outcomes and an improved quality of life for patients.

With the state-of-the-art linear accelerators that the Athens Medical Group has had for several years, we can increase the radiation dose and significantly reduce the treatment time. Today, the treatment can be completed in just 1 to 15 sessions, instead of the 30 or 40 that were previously required. This translates into less discomfort for the patient and faster completion of the treatment process. 

Thanks to the improved precision, we can apply highly targeted treatments, limiting the irradiation of healthy tissues and increasing the dose to the target tumor. This leads to greater treatment effectiveness, improvement of the patient’s daily life and quality of life, while at the same time strengthening disease control and increasing life expectancy. 

At the Athens Medical Center,two specialized scientific oncology teams evaluate the condition of each patient daily, in order to design the best and most personalized treatment. Depending on the case, the treatment may combine radiotherapy, immunotherapy or chemotherapy, ensuring the best possible outcome for the patient. 

Immunotherapy

Over the last ten years, immunotherapy has revolutionized the therapeutic approach to cancer, radically changing the options available to patients. 

Cancer cells exploit natural mechanisms of the immune system to inhibit its action and avoid detection and destruction. Modern immunotherapy, and in particular checkpoint inhibitors, target precisely this process. In practice, they remove this “brake” that prevents the immune system from attacking the tumor, allowing it to effectively recognize and destroy cancer cells. 

The next day in immunotherapy brings to the fore two groundbreaking approaches: diploid antibodies and CAR T-cells. 

First, diploid antibodies are specifically designed to target a specific molecule on the surface of cancer cells. At the same time, they also bind a T-lymphocyte, which is activated and takes over the destruction of the cancer cell. 

Second, CAR T-cells, which are already applied in hematology malignancies, they constitute an innovative personalized treatment. The patient’s own lymphocytes are collected, genetically modified to recognize a specific target on the surface of cancer cells, and then reintroduced into the body in large numbers. Once returned to the body, the modified cells detect and eliminate cancer cells with extreme precision. 

These advanced immunotherapy techniques are already being applied at the Athens Medical Center in the context of clinical studies, opening up new horizons in cancer treatment.