Faith Hope and Love Cancer Center begins treating patients using advanced technology for image-guided radiosurgery

Faith Hope and Love Cancer Center begins treating patients using advanced technology for image-guided radiosurgery

Advanced technology from Varian Medical Systems can treat cancer and neurological conditions quickly and with unprecedented precision

Faith Hope and Love Cancer Center has commenced treating patients with advanced technology for image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for cancer and neurological conditions. Doctors at the center have treated 181 patients using the powerful Trilogy linear accelerator and imaging system from Varian Medical Systems, which make it possible to deliver a wide range of ultra-precise treatments with great speed. Faith Hope and Love Cancer Center is among the first in Indiana to deploy this new technology.

 “This state-of-the-art system makes it possible for us to treat patients with the most advanced radiotherapy techniques, using the most clinically efficient processes in the world,” said Kazumi Chino, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Faith, Hope and Love Cancer Center. “It provides us with more versatility and precision than we’ve ever had, for customizing treatments according to the specifics of each patient’s case.”

At the core of the Trilogy system is Varian’s high-powered medical linear accelerator, a machine that rotates around the patient to deliver radiation treatments from nearly any angle. A high-precision system also incorporates a multi-leaf collimator for shaping the radiation beam to match the three-dimensional shape of the tumor, and an On-Board Imaging system for fast tumor localization and automated patient positioning.

The Trilogy system also includes technology that helps doctors deal with tumor motion during treatment. A multiple imaging technique is used to compensate for tumor motion, while a set of optical guidance cameras enables the therapist to monitor patient motion in real time, and to make any necessary adjustment.”

“The extraordinary power and flexibility of the Trilogy system assures us that we can design a treatment plan that gives our patients the best and most appropriate treatment possible, and not just something that a more limited device can provide,” said Carlos Vasquez, division director of Radiology at Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health. “By combining the most powerful radiotherapy treatment machine with high-quality imaging, tracking, and monitoring devices, Trilogy allows us to deliver the most accurate treatments possible in the shortest amount of time. That translates to better outcomes along with greater patient comfort, since patients spend less time on the treatment table. Part of having better outcomes and greater patient comfort is also knowing that we have a quality process and quality personnel in place to deliver this highly complex treatment safely and accurately.”

There will be 33,020 new cancer cases in the State of Indiana in 2010, according to the American Cancer Society. The American Brain Tumor Association estimates that in 2010 approximately 62,930 new cases of primary brain tumors and more than 150,000 cancer patients with brain metastases each year in the United States. Patients who seek treatment at Faith Hope and Love Cancer Center now have access to the most advanced treatment technologies in the world for these types of conditions.

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About Faith Hope and Love Cancer Center

Faith Hope and Love Cancer Center is a Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health partner. Faith Hope and Love Cancer Center started its mission to provide loving and compassionate care to the cancer patient utilizing the highest quality standards, equipment and techniques for radiation on the Unity Healthcare campus at 1425 Unity Place in Lafayette.

Unity Healthcare has four radiation oncology physicians, who treat patients at Faith Hope and Love Cancer Center, including Irene Gordon, M.D.; Bedatri Sinha, M.D.; Mary Margaret Rhees, M.D. and Kazumi Chino, M.D. For more information, please call (765) 447-7460 or visit www.unityhc.com.

About Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health

Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health is a member of Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Alliance, one of the largest Catholic health care systems in the Midwest with 13 growing hospitals and a number of nationally recognized Centers of Health Care Excellence. Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health includes Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health – Lafayette East and Lafayette Central, as well as Franciscan St. Elizabeth – Crawfordsville, as well as Sigma Medical Group, Woman’s Clinic, Lafayette OB/GYN in Lafayette and Athens Medical Group in Crawfordsville. For more information, please visit www.ste.org and www.franciscanalliance.org.