Newsroom
Advanced Cancer Care In Our Communities
April 2009 | South Shore Senior News
Weymouth - Patients diagnosed with cancer know that treatment in their local communities is more convenient and cost effective than it is at downtown medical centers. But a common misperception is that quality of care is superior at the downtown teaching hospitals. While services in these hospitals are typically state-of-the-art, the strain of travel into Boston, as well as lost work time and separation from family and friends, often take a toll at an already difficult time.
Academic medical centers certainly play a vital role in cutting-edge medicine, but South Shore patients now have many more options. Sophisticated, high–quality cancer care is available in community-based settings that provide added benefits of personal attention in private offices and close integration with your primary care physician and other health care providers.
South Shore seniors increasingly rely on local cancer centers, community-based physician practices and hospitals for excellent, compassionate cancer care. Award-winning physicians in local settings are now providing state-of-the-art services, such as advanced radiation therapy, targeted therapies, clinical trials, and genetic testing, to the community.
Advances in Radiation Oncology
Radiation is an essential component in the treatment of many malignancies, and today, radiation oncologists can harness this enormous power more effectively than ever before. As radiation treatments become more sophisticated, precise localization of the tumor target during treatment planning is critical. Technological breakthroughs previously unavailable in local community settings are now being rolled out, including:
Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). This precisely targets tumors while minimizing the effect on surrounding tissues. While IMRT has been available for some time, we are broadening its use so more patients will benefit.
Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT). This allows real-time imaging of the anatomy immediately prior to treatment in order to optimize the targeting of the radiation beams.
On-Board Conebeam CT. CT scan capability is built into the linear accelerator for superior imaging during IGRT.
Four-Dimensional CT. The fourth dimension, time, is incorporated into a conventional three-dimensional CT scan to capture the movement of tumors during respiration. This is helpful in lung cancer, for instance, to ensure optimal localization of the moving tumor so that the tumor is more precisely targeted and neighboring normal structures are better protected.
PET-CT Fusion. The fusion of the PET-CT with the treatment planning CT images improves certainty about the location of cancerous areas so that the radiation oncologist can fine-tune the design of the radiation treatment fields.
New Therapy Medications
In our ongoing efforts to help patients battle cancer and blood diseases, we are encouraged by the development of more effective and less toxic drugs. Of particular interest are the recent advances in the science of molecular genetics, which is leading to the development of cancer-specific, FDA-approved targeted therapies that kill cancer cells with minimal harm to healthy tissues.
In the last several years, the FDA has approved many agents, including Herceptin, Avastin, Gleveec, Rituxan, Erbitux, Tarceva, and Velcade, that target cancers. As we customize treatment plans for patients in the community, we evaluate which of these medications may be appropriate. To see a list of more than 150 new drugs in Phase 2 or 3 clinical trials, visit www.commonwealthatrius.com.
In short, local patients can now receive world-class cancer care close to home. And they can focus on what’s most important— getting well.
In Part Two of this article next month, we will look at other community cancer care advancements such as clinical trials and genetic testing.
About The Author
Claire Y. Fung, MD, is Director of Radiation Oncology, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, at Commonwealth Atrius Cancer Center in Weymouth. Commonwealth Atrius, is a comprehensive, freestanding cancer center, and is a collaboration between Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology and Atrius Health. The Cancer Center features all non-surgical cancer care services— medical oncology, radiation oncology, and imaging-under one roof. The radiation oncology suite, operated by Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates (an affiliate of Atrius Health), offers advanced radiation therapy, including intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT.) Visit www.commonwealthatrius.com. For more information, visit www.commonwealthatrius.com, www.cancer. org, www.cancer.gov, or www.aad.org/media/press/month.html.