<< BACK TO NEWS
REGIONAL ONCOLOGY CENTER EQUIPPED
FOR THE FUTURE
The Albemarle Health Regional Oncology Center, located
on the campus of Albemarle Hospital, opened in the spring
of 2003. The center’s warm, inviting atmosphere and
caring and competent staff are a perfect compliment to state-of-the-art
technology used to treat patients with a variety of types
of cancer.
In a little more than two years, the Regional Oncology
Center has amassed several pieces of highly advanced equipment
to treat patients. In 2005, the center acquired a new GE
four-slice CT scanner with a wide-viewing area. This, coupled
with a GE computer simulation program, and sophisticated
LAP laser marking system that pinpoints an exact area of
treatment, allows patients to receive diagnostic imaging,
treatment set-up, and treatment, in the same building.
The advantages of this system include saving patients time
by allowing our staff to map out their care, and provide
treatment in a single location; and an accuracy that allows
us to focus on an exact location within the body, sparing
as much surrounding tissue as possible from potential damage.
Through a sophisticated laser marking system, the simulator
pinpoints an exact area for treatment. The patient’s
treatment area can now be accurately marked and recorded,
while still in the CT scanner – eliminating a step
in the treatment process. Information from the simulator
is then transferred to the Eclipse Treatment Planning System,
and then to a linear accelerator for radiation treatment.
 We
recently added another state-of-the-art method of cancer
treatment that delivers high doses of radiation directly
to the cancer cells in a very targeted way, again with much
more precision than conventional radiotherapy. Intensity-Modulated
Radiation Therapy (IMRT) uses computer-generated images
to plan, and then deliver, tightly focused radiation beams
to a cancerous tumor, encompassing it in a three-dimensional
radiation “cloud,” within the intersection of
several beams which are delivered from different angles.
The process begins when diagnostic images are converted
to three-dimensional models which allow a treatment plan
to be developed, based on tumor size, shape, and location
within the body, combined with the physician’s dose
instructions. Treatment can then begin in our linear accelerator,
which is equipped with a special beam-shaping device called
a multileaf collimator (MLC).
The 120 tungsten leaves, or slats, of our MLC precisely
shape the beam of radiation. The MLC is dynamic, and moves
during treatment, varying the dose delivered across each
beam; this allows high doses of radiation to be delivered
to the tumor, while preserving more of the healthy tissue
around the affected area.
Although IMRT may not be appropriate for all patients,
clinical studies have shown that higher dose rates, delivered
through this technique, are improving the rate of tumor
control. With early detection, IMRT may be able to eradicate
tumors before cancer spreads; and physicians can treat cancers
that were previously untreatable with radiation therapy.
In addition, IMRT can usually be done on an outpatient basis.
The greatest technology doesn’t mean a lot without
qualified people to operate it, and nurture patients through
their treatment. Staff Radiation Oncologist Cynthia Ballenger,
M.D., is licensed in three states and certified by the American
Board of Radiology. The North Carolina native served as
the Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Emory University,
in Atlanta, before joining the Albemarle Hospital Regional
Oncology Center. She also served as a radiation oncologist
at Duke University Medical Center’s Department of
Radiation Oncology. Other Regional Oncology Center staff
includes three registered radiation therapists, a registered
nurse, a physicist, and a dosimetrist.
Albemarle Health offers multi-dimensional cancer treatment
including surgery, radiation oncology, chemotherapy in its
ambulatory infusion center, pastoral care, and a palliative
care program. Albemarle Health also sponsors various support
groups for patients and their families, and works closely
with the American Cancer Society to provide education, cancer
prevention information, and screening programs for residents
in its seven-county service area.
<< BACK TO NEWS
|
