AUGUSTA, Ga. - Chances are, you or someone you know has battled cancer. Advances in radiation therapy are helping some in their fight.

Doctors have used Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) as a way to target and eliminate cancerous cells for 10 years, but advances in technology now allow doctors to shoot an even higher dose of radiation to a very small area in the body while avoiding hitting healthy organs and tissues.

During the past eight years Jane Enyeart, 68, has battled four different kinds of cancer.

"I've had a lot of things happen [to me] that I wouldn't guess and my parents lived to be in their 90's. I’ve always been told I had good genes, but I don’t really consider cancer good,” Enyeart said.

Her goal: to live a happy full life to the ripe old age of 90, just like her parents.

“I'm a fighter you have to be a fighter when you're facing these adversities,” Enyeart said. "I'm trying to live a life of good examples for my children.”

For the past seven weeks Enyeart has been coming to MCGHealth every day to receive Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy.

The $4 million X-ray machine called a Linear Accelerator sends intensified radiation right at the tumor in her chest and spares the organs around it,

Behind the scenes, a group of Medical Dosimetrist's plan where to shoot the radiation.

"You can see the radiation around the tumor and how we missed the spinal cord. It looks really good,” Chief Medical Dosimetrist Lauri Lundgren said while showing a computer generated image of Enyeart's body.

Lundgren is helping teach two master’s students at the Medical College of Georgia about how to actually pinpoint and eliminate cancer cells with radiation.

Samantha Snead is one of those students.

"We outline the critical organs and figure out how to do the best treatment plan possible to the tumor without damaging critical organs," Snead said.

Snead says many of her family members had cancer which is why she came to the Medical College of Georgia to learn about radiation.

"We're trying to treat cancer and cure it if that's possible and we'll do that with radiation,” Snead said.

In two days, Enyeart says she will be done with her treatment. In a few months she'll be back to see if the radiation shrunk and killed her cancerous tumor.

"How do you get to be 90? You have to be strong. I mean nobody gets to 90-years-old and has an easy life,” Enyeart said.

There are several side effects to this treatment. Enyeart says because she's getting radiation in her chest sometimes, she has difficulty swallowing. However, it depends on how big the cancer is and where the radiation is sent into your body.

If you have cancer in your stomach, the treatment may lead to nausea and diarrhea. If you have cancer in your head, the treatment may give you headaches or cause you to lose your hair.

Dosimetrist Lundgren says though the treatment is costly, it is available to anyone who needs it. She also says the success rate is high, however it depends on the patient and their type of treatment.

Lundgren says some cancers can be "cured" with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

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