Technology better pinpoints cancer cells

By Keith Purtell

Muskogee Community Hospital has acquired a cutting-edge technology called TomoTherapy that uses a tightly focused radiation beam to better pinpoint cancer tumors in patients.

“That equipment that we have rivals anything that they have in big towns,” said Mark Roberts, MCH president. “It’s better than anything you’ll see in a rural community in America.”

The device provides radiation therapy in a tightly-focused beam, Roberts said.

“They start with a CAT scan to pinpoint where the tumor is in your body,” he said. “Then they do what is called dosimetry to calculate how much radiation and how often, and then where exactly they need to put it to reduce and/or eliminate the tumor.”

Roberts said the TomoTherapy device is so sophisticated that its beam does less damage to the good cells and tissue around the tumor. It allows cancer patients to get a special type of treatment locally instead of driving to Tulsa or Oklahoma City.

“Planning for this equipment has been ongoing since before we opened, so I’m going to say we started 10 or 12 months ago,” he said. “It’s now in use five days a week.”

MCH is using a temporary facility for the device. Roberts said they build a permanent facility.

“This (temporary) unit has allowed us to get us in business more than a year ahead on when we would otherwise, because it takes quite a while to build a building,” he said. “I’m working through the financing right now to build a permanent facility on our campus.”

Dr. Doug Kelly, a radiation oncologist who works in the facility, said they regularly see cancer patients referred to them by doctors in the community.

“One of the first things we do is start with a consultation,” he said. “We find out what kind of cancer they have, whether they need any additional scans, and whether radiation therapy can help them. We’ve been up and running for a month now.”

Kelly said the TomoTherapy device is a state-of-the-art radiation therapy machine.

“Usually we’ll give patients a series of radiation treatments five days a week for seven weeks or so,” he said. “We treat a patient every 20 minutes or so. We’ve been very pleased with the acceptance in the community. With the patients we’ve been treating, it’s been a success.”

Kelly said the treatment is designed to be easy for the patient, and the interior of the room containing the TomoTherapy unit is decorated like a home or hotel room.

“We set them on the table that slides into the machine,” he said. “The patient doesn’t see or feel anything. Although we’re in a temporary structure, that machine is the fully-functioning device. It’s the equivalent of what we’ll have in the permanent cancer treatment center.”

Kelly said this is the first TomoTherapy unit in Muskogee.

“We’re able to treat tumors as small as 1/2 of an inch, or we’re able to treat massive tumors,” he said. “The small beam rotates around the patient. It’s excellent for lung cancer or prostate cancer. With breast cancer, we’re able to keep radiation off the lungs and the heart.”



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