Cancer Fighters Thrive is a quarterly print and online magazine bringing readers practical, innovative and inspirational information about cancer treatment and survivorship.
Issue link: http://cancerfightersthrive.epubxp.com/i/197379
INNOVATION IORT is exactly what it sounds like: radiation delivered during surgery. Why double up and administer both treatments at once? It is sort of like killing two birds with one stone or getting two outs with one pitch. Te surgical oncologist and the radiation oncologist deliver the one-two punch to knock out a patient's cancer, frst by surgically removing the tumor and then by delivering radiation to the area where the tumor was removed to kill any remaining cancer cells. IORT fewer side efects for patients, improving quality of life. Another beneft of IORT is that it shortens the duration of treatment. "With IORT we can deliver a fairly high dose of radiation in a very short period of time," Dr. Wascher says. "We can give the equivalent of several weeks' worth of outpatient radiation therapy in the operating room in a matter of minutes." Providing a high dose of treatment in a short time allows many patients to minimize is an innovative and high-tech cancer treatment approach that can be superior to traditional external-beam radiation therapy in many cases because it allows for a high dose of radiation to be applied to a limited area of the body within just a few minutes while simultaneously sparing surrounding tissues and organs. "When given in the operating room, radiation is applied quite precisely and in a more concentrated fashion with IORT, directly into the area where the tumor is—or, more commonly, where the tumor was just removed," explains Dr. Wascher. "Tis means we can deliver a high dose of radiation to a very specifc targeted area while the patient is still under sedation in the operating room." One of the major benefts of IORT is that it can spare surrounding areas from unnecessary radiation. "Ofen the surgeon can move aside the 'innocent bystander' organs, such as the intestines, and keep them out of the radiation feld," Dr. Wascher says. "Tis gives us more control over the organs and the tissues or avoid the daily trek to the Radiation Terapy Department for outpatient radiation therapy, ofering treatment that is delivered on a more convenient schedule for the patient. that receive radiation and those that don't." Sparing the organs and the tissues that do not require treatment can mean belly, where such tumors may be very diffcult to identify in the operating room. "We can use an intraoperative PET scan cfthrive.com INTRAOPERATIVE PET SCAN: DIAGNOSTIC COLLABORATION Surgical oncologists and nuclear medicine specialists can also collaborate to perform a highly specialized diagnostic imaging test known as an intraoperative positron emission tomography (PET) scan, a nuclear-imaging study that can detect small or hidden tumors that cannot otherwise be easily seen or felt by the surgeon in the operating room. An intraoperative PET scan uses a handheld probe to measure metabolic activity within the patient's body when looking for small or hidden tumors during surgery. For example, Dr. Wascher notes that intraoperative PET scanning can be very useful in patients who have very small recurrent or metastatic tumors that are buried deeply in the back of the "AT CTCA WE REALLY DO BELIEVE IN INTEGRATING MULTIPLE CANCER SPECIALISTS WHO WORK SIDE BY SIDE WITH EACH OTHER WITHIN A TRUE MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM TO PROVIDE OPTIMAL CARE TO OUR PATIENTS WITH CANCER." —ROBERT WASCHER, MD, FACS sort of like a GPS system, to help guide us to these small recurrent or metastatic tumors. It's a navigational aid to help us focus our attention on the right area." THE BEST OF ALL WORLDS When multidisciplinary treatment is raised to the highest possible level, it is the best of all worlds for patients. "At CTCA we really do believe in integrating multiple cancer specialists who work side by side with each other within a true multidisciplinary team to provide optimal care to our patients with cancer," Dr. Wascher says. "We are not just physically located under one roof; we actually do work very closely with one another, every single day, to efectively manage the needs of our patients. Tis efectively and efciently brings to bear the highly specialized knowledge that each of us has within a very interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to patient care." winter 2013 | cancer fighters thrive 47