Treatment Moves to MB
By Darrell Hughes, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Jul. 10–The Carolina Regional Cancer Center has brought to the beach a techno-savvy form of cancer treatment that aims to rid people of cancer with fewer side effects.
The Myrtle Beach center has added the TomoTherapy Hi-Art system, a $3.5 million piece of technology. It is one of three such units in the state, with about 200 of them in the United States.
The system is unique in that cancer radiotherapy treatment is guided through images produced by a CT scanner.
“The actual instrument that generates the X-rays is on a CT gantry, so the treatment machine revolves around the patient,” radiologist oncologist Todd Williams said, adding that it’s basically an all-in-one, 3-D CT scanner combined with radiotherapy treatment.
Combining CT and cancer treatment allows physicians to have “a more homogenous type of treatment and spare normal tissues to a much greater degree than before,” Williams said. In comparison, standard cancer treatment techniques are “sort of stop and shoot,” Williams said.
“We treat in multiple directions with the old technique. … It’s not a continuous treatment that TomoTherapy is.”
Physicians can also reduce or increase cancer treatment doses by looking at daily images supplied by the CT portion of the system.
Steve Bass, Carolina Regional Cancer Center medical director, said the new unit doesn’t have as many harsh side effects as traditional treatments.
Bass said the TomoTherapy unit is effective on any type of cancer.
Cancer mortality rates in the U.S. continue to decline, although the number of cancer-related deaths has gone up, according to Cancer Facts and Figures 2008, the American Cancer Society’s annual cancer statistics report. While that sounds like mixed news, the society’s experts say progress is being made in the fight against cancer.
Collins Wakefield, Carolina Regional Cancer Center chief financial officer, said the system has a maintenance cost of roughly $300,000. “But there’s other costs that’s associated with it,” he said.
He also pointed out, “it’s not like a drug, you’re not paying for each use.”
The high costs associated with operating the unit do not have any bearing on who receives treatment, whether insured or uninsured, Bass said. “We see everyone. … A patients’ finances does not matter,” he said.
Many patients of the cancer center are Medicare recipients and are referred by other physicians from hospitals throughout the region, Bass said.
With this new treatment, which went live last week, officials anticipate patient referral volume will increase by 10 percent or more.
Carolina Regional Cancer Center officials plan to host an open house where they can pitch their product to local physicians.
“It’s our job to educate the referring patients about this treatment option and to educate the public,” Wakefield said.
Williams said it’s important that people understand that this technique isn’t replacing traditional forms of cancer treatment.
“This is just another exciting tool that we’re going to be able to do some great things with, but it’s not going to be the perfect treatment for everyone,” he said.
Contact DARRELL HUGHES at 626-0364.
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