VALLEJO, Calif. -- Even when avid fisherman Frank Morini is not catching anything, he said there's nothing he'd rather be doing.

He fishes for salmon, trout and catfish -- and it's never an exact science. But he's healthy today because of something that is.

A machine at Sutter Solano Cancer Center in Vallejo delivers what's called Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, or IMRT. The center opened in December of 2005. Morini was treated in March.

"I'd have chemo on a Thursday and then radiation every day for 35 days," Morini recalled.

Morini had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor deep in the back of his throat. That wasn't the only bad news.

"Operable was out of the question. It's in a spot they just couldn't operate," Morini said.

Doctors said that made him a great candidate for this type of radiation treatment which targets tumors right in the middle of sensitive areas, like the throat.

"It's amazing. In the old days, they couldn't do that," Morini said.

Sutter Solano Radiation Oncologist Chris Anderson mapped out Morini's treatment with a computer -- a three-dimensional map of the tumor -- and a grid of radiation beams that can hit the tumor at full force -- but avoid the important organs and tissue in their way.

"The way now we can deliver it, we can vary the intensity, we can vary the shape, we can vary the way it dwells on a target," Anderson explained.

It's not an easy treatment. Between the chemotherapy and radiation, Morini lost more than 50 pounds.

"I try not to cry around him. I broke down quite a bit when I was by myself. It was hard," said his wife Christine Morini.

Doctors will watch Morini closely for the next two years.

Because they caught his cancer early and treated it aggressively, his prognosis is good.

"I belong to an elite group of people right now-- survivors," said Morini.

His type of cancer is often caused by smoking and drinking, something Morini said he has given up.

Overall, doctors said IMRT is credited with better survival rates, and fewer side effects since it's so precise.