Cancer Center

World Class Cancer Center Right in Your Neighborhood

The Regional Cancer Center at Wellington has advanced technology and a caring team of healthcare providers. The staff is committed to providing programs for early detection, diagnosis, treatment and long-term follow-up care to each cancer patient. The cancer program is accredited by the American College of Surgeons and has strong relations with many of the supporting nonprofit organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and Hospice.

Advanced technology includes a linear accelerator with a wide range of electron energies; simulator of tumor localization CT/MRI that interface with treatment planning computer networks; superficial (electron) therapy for skin cancer; prostate ultrasound treatment planning system specifically created for I-125 and palladium seed implants; cesium implants for GYN malignancies; Beta irradiation (Strontium-90) for pterygium eye treatment; Metastron (Strontium-89) injections for maximum pain control; radiation seed implants (Brachytherapy) for various malignancies, including prostate, lung, GI, GYN and others; and High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachytherapy for treatment of various types of cancer.

The Regional Cancer Center, established in 1992, is a dedicated outpatient radiation treatment facility.

The philosophy of the staff at the center is to provide services in an environment that supports and promotes the highest quality of life, sensitive to the specific physical, psychological and educational needs of each patient. The Regional Cancer Center not only provides advanced diagnostics and cancer treatments, but also provides other important services to cancer patients, families and the community, such as prostate cancer and breast cancer support groups, nutritional counseling services, social services, nursing support, courtesy van transportation, free screenings and educational lectures.

Breast Conservation Therapy with MammoSite

The treatment of breast cancer has become increasingly less invasive over the last several decades. More women than ever are opting for breast conservation therapy rather than a more invasive mastectomy. Still, there are some statistics that may surprise you:

• Up to 40% of women who are eligible for Breast Conservation Therapy still opt for a more invasive mastectomy.*
• An estimated 25% of women who opt for Breast Conservation Therapy, choose not to receive radiation therapy as part of their treatment protocol. Despite the fact that radiation is proven to significantly decrease the risk of cancer recurrence, some patients find it difficult to complete an almost two month course of radiation therapy. It may be difficult to take the time off from work or other responsibilities, or treatment centers may be far from home.

A five-day treatment option for your patients

The MammoSite Radiation Therapy System facilitates the delivery of partial breast irradiation (PBI). For delivering targeted radiation, MammoSite is now considered the technology of choice since dose conformity and adjacent normal tissue sparing can be simultaneously optimized. Since becoming available in early 2002, thousands of women have opted for the benefits of MammoSite, the most widely used method of PBI.

The MammoSite device is placed at the time of lumpectomy or during a separate procedure post-lumpectomy. The balloon can be inflated to variable sizes to accommodate the individual cavity and the prescribed dosage of radiation is inserted into the balloon. When used as primary radiation therapy, two treatments are administered each day, for five days, to deliver the prescribed radiation dose. When used as a boost with external beam radiation, a typical prescription requires one treatment for four days.

Once the therapy is concluded, the balloon is deflated and the catheter is removed.

Benefits of MammoSite:

• Radiation therapy can be completed in five days.
• MammoSite places the radiation source inside the lumpectomy cavity, delivering radiation to the area where cancer is most likely to recur.
• The amount of radiation to healthy tissue is limited, reducing the potential for side effects.
• The therapy is given on an outpatient basis.
• Studies have shown cosmetic results to be good/excellent in 88% of patients.
• Patient satisfaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

For more than a decade, a number of institutions have investigated the use of PBI as an alternative to whole breast external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) with favorable results. Reported local recurrence rates are low and well within recurrence rates documented for patients treated with whole breast EBRT. No statistically significant differences were noted between patients with PBI or EBRT in the rates of local recurrence or overall survival. The rate of local recurrence in the patients treated with PBI was 1.0%.

*National Cancer Institute, 2001.