Renown to add cancer radiation device

Renown Regional Medical Center will add a new machine for use in cancer treatment, specifically to reduce side effects for patients and to more successfully treat a greater number of cancers.
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The TomoTherapy Hi-Art System is to arrive at Renown in mid-November, with the first patient scheduled at the end of November, hospital spokesman Dan Davis said.

The system differs from traditional radiation therapy equipment by using a computed tomography (CT) scanner that provides true images of a patient's anatomy in real time.

Traditional radiation is delivered in a series of beams, said Dr. Eric Rost, medical director of radiation oncology at Renown, but TomoTherapy delivers radiation in a more precise spiraling, overlapping pattern to minimize radiation exposure to normal tissues.

"The machine will deliver a path of radiation around the patient avoiding all critical structures and only depositing to the tumor," he said. "It's very precise, and it has the ability to not only do acute precision, but it can do very complex shapes regardless of size."

Better treatment

Rost said before this technology, cancers, such as pancreatic, prostate and ovarian, could be treated with radiation but not very well.

Mesothelioma, a type of cancer in the lining of the lung, can only be treated with TomoTherapy. The system can be used on all solid tumors and is especially good at treating tumors in the brain and spinal cord.

Rost said that with TomoTherapy, patients can receive more radiation treatments than with traditional radiation. It also works better in conjunction with other types of cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy and surgery, because it can be done simultaneously rather than sequentially.

"The amount of side effects that (patients) have is greatly reduced," said Dr. Eric Rost, medical director of Radiation Oncology at Renown. "The number of things we can treat successfully is astounding. Not only are results better (and) faster, but you can do it without hurting patients."

Rost was among the first users of the TomoTherapy technology and has been using it since 2003. There are only about

200 of the machines in the United States and 300 worldwide. Renown will be the first hospital in Northern Nevada to have the machine, which cost just more than $3 million.

"We want to be able to provide programs and services, so people don't have to leave the community," said Don Butterfield, director of communications for Renown.