CTCA Updates - March 2010

CTCA at Eastern Regional Medical Center and CTCA at Western Regional Medical Center

Calypso, the Latest Treatment for Prostate Cancer

Dedicated to providing the latest treatments and technologies for our patients, Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) at Western Regional Medical Center now offers Calypso® 4D Localization System™.  In addition, CTCA at Eastern Regional Medical Center recently received approval to purchase Calypso. This system delivers focused doses of radiation with greater accuracy to prostate cancer patients receiving external beam radiation therapy.  This helps to minimize damage to healthy tissue.

The prostate can move during radiation treatment as a result of breathing and normal movement in the intestines. Typically, radiation oncologists expand the treatment area to ensure the moving target is irradiated. In the process, healthy tissue near the prostate may also be affected, leading to a high rate of urinary, bowel and sexual side effects.

Also known as GPS for the Body®, this technology allows our radiation therapy team to continuously track movement of the prostate in real time and concentrate radiation to the tumor. By targeting cancer cells and avoiding nearby healthy tissues, Calypso spares the bladder, colon and other critical structures. Common side effects of radiation treatment for prostate cancer patients, such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction, may be greatly minimized.

The Calypso system features a 4D Console™ that allows our radiation oncologists to see the exact location of the tumor during radiation treatment. Before treatment, patients undergo a simple outpatient procedure. Three Beacon® transponders are implanted into the prostate through the rectum, using ultrasound guidance. Each transponder is as small as a grain of rice. The Beacon® transponders then communicate with Calypso during radiation treatment using safe, radiofrequency waves.

Watch a video to see how Calypso works, and hear Dr. Bernard Eden, Director of Radiation Oncology at CTCA at Midwestern Regional Medical Center, discuss Calypso and the benefits of this treatment. 

Calypso is currently FDA approved for use in the treatment of prostate cancer. This promising technology may eventually be used in the treatment of other cancers, including breast and lung cancers. Calypso is currently available at CTCA at Western Regional Medical Center and Midwestern Regional Medical Center, and is coming soon to Eastern Regional Medical Center and Southwestern Regional Medical Center.

CTCA at Midwestern Regional Medical Center

Skylight Arrives at CTCA at Midwestern Regional Medical Center

In-patient rooms and infusion bays at Cancer Treatment Centers of America® at Midwestern Regional Medical Center will offer a new interactive patient care system called Skylight.  Utilizing the in room television, this system will offer personalized educational videos, healing and spiritual programs and dining menus – all with the click of a button. 

Skylight will help empower patients with knowledge and resources, keeping our promise to provide and offer our patients valuable information. 

Culinary and Nutrition Services

The Food Service and Nutrition departments at CTCA at Midwestern Regional Medical Center officially combined into one department, Culinary and Nutrition Services.   In order to more accurately convey the services provided by Chef Judy Hallisey and her team, the name of the Food Services department was changed to Culinary Services and combined with Nutrition.

The hospital located in Zion is uniting the creative talents of Chief Judy Hallisey and her entire team with the scientific insights provided by the director of Nutrition, Carolyn Lammersfeld, R.D. L.D., and her team of dietitians.  The departments have always worked together, however the new arrangement will foster greater communication and collaboration to better serve our patients.   This combination of talent allows the dietitians to recommend very specific nutrition guidelines for our patients and the culinary team creates healthy options that looks and tastes great. 

Introducing Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Dr. Bernard Eden MD, Director of Radiation Oncology at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Midwestern Regional Medical Center is one of the first radiation oncologists to perform non-invasive Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS). SRS combined with the Calypso® 4D Localization System™, known as “GPS for the Body®”, improves the precision and accuracy of radiation.  This treatment, which despite its name is not surgery, spares healthy tissue and organs while also significantly reducing patient treatment time. 

The findings of a recent, prospective, multi-site study, entitled, “Assessing the Impact of Margin Reduction (AIM),” demonstrate that the use of the Calypso System during high-dose external beam radiation for prostate cancer resulted in a significant reduction in rectal and urinary treatment-related side effects.  By utilizing the TrilogyTM radiation platform with RapidArcTM, in combination with Calypso, Dr. Eden was able to design a treatment plan that provided powerful, highly-focused radiation beams conforming to the exact size of the prostate gland, delivered from multiple angles from around the body, directly targeting the cancer cells with detailed accuracy provided by the Calypso system’s transponder beacons. 

“The RapidArc conforming beam precision and the tracking mechanism provided by the Calypso system is a powerful one-two punch against prostate cancer.  It is a true patient-inspired advancement,” said Dr. Eden. “Patients have been asking me for years about ways to shorten the radiation treatment so it’s always at the top of my mind. The goal is to do so in a safe and effective manner. I’m excited to say that technology has finally caught up with patient demand – which in turn allows me to better respond to our patients’ needs,” he said.  With this treatment approach, patients will see their treatment time reduced from eight to nine weeks to approximately one to two weeks. 

SRS with Calypso – How it works:

• The prostate gland can experience continuous positional changes due to normal body activity and organ motion.  The Calypso GPS for the Body enables real-time, continuous monitoring of the tumor location during treatment and thus improves accuracy in targeting the prostate cancerous cells, while better protecting surrounding tissues and vital organs.
• In an outpatient procedure, similar to a biopsy, three Beacon® transponders are implanted into the prostate.  Each transponder is about as small as a grain of rice.  During radiation treatment, the Beacon transponders communicate with the Calypso system using safe radiofrequency waves.  The system shows exactly where the prostate is at all times during radiation treatment.
• The Varian Trilogy® radiation platform provides RapidArc technology which conforms radiation to the prostate’s exact size and shape from multiple angles.

View a video of Dr. Eden introducing SRS and Terry Lewis, a prostate cancer survivor, sharing his experience.  Watch the interview.

CTCA at Southwestern Regional Medical Center

Fitness Center Grand-Opening

On January 8, 2010, Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) at Southwestern Regional Medical Center held the grand-opening of a new on-site fitness center for patients, caregivers and stakeholders. The Fitness Center will be open for patient and caregivers (18 years and older) to exercise from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The new Fitness Center includes equipment such as treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, dumbbell rack, dual pulley machine, leg curl/extension, lateral pull down/low row, multi-press, abdominal/back extension and leg press/calf raise. A full locker room with showers, towels and soap is also available for use.  CTCA knows the benefits of exercise and is committed to helping our patients and caregivers stay active while visiting the hospital.