A new tool is available for cancer patients undergoing treatment in the western U.P., as the
Bay Area Medical Center in Marinette, Wisc. upgraded a key piece of technology recently.
The Bay Area Cancer Center is now home to an image-guided radiation therapy system, which is more targeted and shorter in length than traditional radiation therapies.
Ted Sogard, 75, of Escanaba, is one of the patients already helped by the IGRT system. He was referred to the Bay Cancer Center by his physician, after discovering two small tumors that had metastasized after previous prostate cancer treatments in 2005.
The image-based radiation works by immobilizing the patient in a tight body wrap, which is comfortable but still keeps the person from moving during treatment. Then, an imaging system pinpoints the tumors, and radiation is delivered directly to the tumors in a limited area.
Sogard underwent one IGRT treatment for the two small areas, and Dr. Gregory Cooley, radiation oncologist at Bay, says ordinarily the treatment would be much longer.
"Had the IGRT capabilities not been available, Ted would have had 10 treatments spanning over two weeks," says Cooley. "While those treatments would have been delivered safely and effectively, IGRT treatments are completed in a drastically shorter time period, and there is a much higher chance the cancer will not return to that area. Since most of the high dose is in the tumor and not the surrounding healthy tissue, this results in fewer side effects."
As for Sogard, he got back to his daily routine as a ski instructor at
Norway Mountain in a much shorter time than he could otherwise expect.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Gregory Cooley, Bay Area Cancer Center
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