February 28, 2014 at 1:47 p.m.
James Beck Cancer Center to unveil True Beam Accelerator during open house March 12
James Beck Cancer Center to unveil True Beam Accelerator during open house March 12
By Kayla Thomason-
"We wanted to plan an open house so we could share with the community the technology that we have and one thing that I always try to get across in any public presentation is that we have local cancer care," said Kimberly Hetland, Ministry Sacred Heart/Saint Mary's radiation oncology manager. "We have quality local cancer care. The machine that we have is one of the best of the best right now in its industry and it is something that we are very proud of within the department."
Information about support systems for cancer patients and their families will also be shared so the community can learn about everything James Beck Cancer Center has to offer. Some new providers will also be introduced at the open house as well.
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month so the open house will also include presentations on colon cancer screening and prevention.
There will be tours of both radiation and medical oncology and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"I'm always surprised because people don't realize the technology we have or even the link to the names James Beck," Hetland said. "I had someone ask 'James Beck, is that the James Beck that used to own [Triumph] Twist Drill?' and it is, it's James Beck that actually made the whole cancer center a reality because without the funding that he had put up we wouldn't have a cancer center here."
The physicians at the James Beck Cancer Center are enthused about the advancements the True Beam Accelerator provides.
"The True Beam is able to use different methods in regards to radiation therapy," said Peter Heiberger, medical physicist. "We can do a volumetric approach where the Accelerator can actually rotate around the patient in 360 degrees and with that we can conform the dose to the tumor much more accurately and conformal than what we would have with previous accelerators."
The True Beam can scan the patients each time they are in, so the doctors can see the soft tissue targets instead of just the skeletal system. There are also products used to keep the patient in the same position every treatment for more accuracy.
"Essentially the whole appointment is about 15 to 20 minutes long," Hetland said. "Largely the appointment is the therapist actually working with the patient to get them into position and then doing all our imaging that we need to do to make sure we are right on the money and then once we beam on, depending on what technique we do, it can be anywhere for two minutes to five minutes."
RapidArc is another procedure that can be done using the True Beam, and it is a lot faster.
"For example, a head and neck patient used to be probably close to 15 minutes and now it is like two when we do a RapidArc," Hetland said.
The True Beam Accelerator is customized around a patient's comfort. There is surround-sound music and the patient can pick what they would like to listen to. Patients and doctors can hear each other. If the patient starts talking the music turns off and the doctors respond. When the conversation is over the music resumes. There are landscape photos on the ceiling and the room itself has hardwood-looking floors and wooden cabinets, which give it a cozier feel.
It also allows for more targeted treatment of tumors, Heiberger added.
"The nice part about that too, with our capability to image more accurately is we are really able to conform to that tumor to the area that we want to treat so what that does, the margins that we have to draw around the tumors to encapsulate everything, we can now make those margins smaller which in turn will actually lower the dose to the normal tissue and structures that are surrounding that tumor volume," Heiberger said.
Because the margins are smaller there are certain methods where the doctors can accelerate the dose and reduce the number of times a patient has to come in for treatment, which can reduce the cost and the amount of time the patient would have to take off work.
"The other thing with the True Beam is because we can be so tight we actually can escalate our doses higher which means that we have an even higher chance of cure," Hetland added.
When planning a patient's treatment the doctors take into account the areas surrounding the tumor because certain structures can only take so much radiation, Hetland said.
"But one thing to note though, not every cancer or not every patient is a candidate for having their treatments shortened up and having a higher dose," Hetland added.
There aren't really any limitations on which cancers True Beam can treat.
"There really is nothing that has changed too much in regards to which areas we can treat before True Beam and now with True Beam, there's just the methods we can treat them is much better now with the True Beam," Heiberger said.
He hopes that people will walk away with a level of comfort knowing that the James Beck Cancer Center can provide high quality care.
Ministry Health Care purchased five True Beam Accelerators. James Beck was the fourth Ministry cancer center to receive one. Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield will be getting one in late summer or early fall.
There are approximately 10 True Beam Accelerators in Wisconsin.
"When we were looking at a new treatment machine we felt it was important to collaborate with the whole system and then select something that is going to take us into the next 10 years," Hetland said.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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