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GREENSBORO -- Cancer patients now have a new option when it comes to fighting their disease. A state-of-the-art cancer treatment called TomoTherapy delivers targeted radiation to tumors that previously weren't able to be treated. It's giving patients peace of mind with its accuracy.

John Hutchins did his research before choosing TomoTherapy to treat his prostate cancer. “Although it was relatively new, they were talking about the ability to give higher doses of radiation, directed specifically at the tumor,” he said.

Traditional radiation therapy is used on sections of the body, while this therapy targets just the tumor. And that accuracy gives Hutchins peace of mind. “They are not doing damage or touching anything they shouldn't be,” he said. "So the exactness of this science makes you feel comfortable."

Moses Cone Health System Radiation Oncologist Dr. John Moody says it's a much more precise way to treat cancer. "We're still treating very high doses, but still we're able to stay off of anything that would be nearby," he said. "So the accuracy is really down to the millimeter level.”

Doctors say about 20 percent of the patients they're treating right now, they wouldn't be able to help with out this technology.

“A lot of time there have not been good options for those people from the radiation standpoint and this machine allows us to treat those people,” Moody said. “Not just in a way that might help a little bit, but to sometimes try to go for a cure as well, which is what we always try to do.”

With only a handful of treatments left, Hutchins thinks he made a good choice. “Research it and find out what's best for you, this was best for me, I'm not going to say what's best for someone else,” he said.

The machine has been in use in Greensboro for the last year. It is the only one in the state and draws patients from all over to get their radiation treatments.