Nov. 14-- Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa has recently begun using a new method of treatment that allows doctors to directly apply radiation to a tumor bed during surgery, saving some patients several weeks of chemotherapy.
Michal Long is the second patient to receive the therapy in Tulsa. She has breast cancer, but it was caught early and her doctors believe she will not need any further treatment.
"I feel great," she said recently, wearing a pink blouse with a pink breast-cancer-awareness ribbon pinned to it.
Long lives in Savannah, Ga., but previously lived in Stillwater. Her mother lives in Tulsa and her sisters live in Oklahoma City.
She received the treatment on a Thursday, and by Sunday, was at a birthday lunch for her mother.
It would be difficult for her to miss months of work, and she said she is grateful not to have six to eight weeks of radiation therapy ahead.
"This new program will actually give me back my life," she said.
Oneita Taylor, a radiation oncologist who performed part of Long's procedure, said there are virtually no side effects to the treatment.
"This allows a patient to get back to their regular activities much sooner than traditionally," she said.
During intraoperative radiation therapy as its performed in Tulsa, the radiation is delivered via electronic beams through a plastic tube using a newly-acquired machine called NOVAC 7. The concept of intraoperative radiation therapy is not new, but previously, a patient would have to be moved during surgery to receive the radiation.
This was generally unsafe and made it difficult to maintain a sterile environment. With the new machine, it is all done in one room, adding about 30 minutes to the regular surgery.
The procedure is relatively new to the United States but has been performed in Europe for years with favorable results, said Dr. John Frame, surgical oncologist at CTCA in Tulsa.
"The technology is new," he said. "Until a couple of years ago, this technology wasn't even available in the U.S."
Although no randomized trials have been done to show whether the radiation during surgery is as effective as radiation delivered otherwise, results from other trials are promising, Frame said.
The procedure is most commonly used to treat breast cancer but can also be used in cases of stomach, prostate, lung and other cancers.
Shannon Muchmore 918-581-8378
shannon.muchmore@tulsaworld.com
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