CAROLINA REGIONAL CANCER CENTER ANNOUNCES PILOT PROGRAM FOR ADAPTIVE TREATMENT PLANNING TO FURTHER EXPAND THE BENEFITS OF ITS TOMOTHERAPY HI•ART TREATMENT SYSTEM

Carolina Regional Cancer Center (CRCC), an affiliate of MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, has initiated a Pilot Program to study the benefits of Adaptive Treatment Planning utilizing the TomoTherapy® Hi•Art® Treatment System, one of the most effective forms of radiation treatment available.  Adaptive tr... [read more]

CAROLINA REGIONAL CANCER CENTER WELCOMES NEWS AS AFFILIATE, MUSC HOLLINGS CANCER CENTER, RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS DESIGNATION BY NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

Carolina Regional Cancer Center (CRCC), affiliated with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Hollings Cancer Center (HCC), announced today that HCC recently received designation by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as one of the top cancer research centers in the country. HCC is one of only 64 other can... [read more]

Lung Cancer Treatment

Whenever someone is diagnosed with cancer of any type, it is important the cancer be staged. This refers to the process of determining whether the cancer is localized where it is seen or felt, or has spread to other sites in the body. This process often includes physical examinations, x-rays, biopsies and blood tests. Early-stage cancer generally means localized disease without any evidence of metastases. A more advanced stage disease indicates the cancer has invaded nearby structures in the body and/or spread elsewhere in the body.

Early-stage disease generally can be treated very successfully with surgery; however, it is very important the surgeon be able to remove all of the known disease without leaving any behind. Surgery is of minimal benefit if cancer is left. If the disease is of a more advanced stage, then surgery will likely not be recommended and a treatment such as radiation and/or chemotherapy will be used. Again, the actual extent of the cancer will determine how the radiation and chemotherapy are combined. Surgery is rarely used for small cell lung cancer. Because of the likelihood of distant spread of this disease, chemotherapy is a vital component in the treatment of small cell lung cancer.

When this disease is found to be localized to the chest, referred to as "limited stage" disease, radiotherapy is often added to the chemotherapy.

Radiotherapy is a localized treatment and affects only the immediate area being treated. In other words, if the patient is receiving radiation treatments to his lung cancer in the chest, any potential benefits and potential side effects will be limited to that area. Therefore, radiation therapy to the chest would not cause the patient's hair to fall out or nausea and vomiting.

Radiation kills the cancer cells by damaging the DNA in those cells. DNA is the substance in each cell which controls its activities. Radiation damages the cancer cells with each treatment, so when they attempt to divide and grow, they are unable to and they die. Radiation treatments do indeed treat normal tissue along with the cancers; however, the normal tissue is able to repair the potential radiation damage each day and carry on as normal. As the cancer cells are killed during the treatment, the tumor will often be seen to slowly shrink and hopefully disappear with time.

Radiation therapy is also delivered differently than the chemotherapy as it is a daily treatment. Generally, the therapy is given one treatment per day, five days a week for up to six or seven weeks. Again, the extent of the cancer will strongly influence the number of treatments. The daily treatments, however, are delivered quite quickly. The time involved to be set up on the treatment table and receive the treatment is approximately 15 to 20 minutes per day.

Patients are treated with high-energy x-rays which are generated in machines called linear accelerators. These x-rays are exactly the same type a person is exposed to when he/she receives a chest x-ray or a CT scan; however, they are much more focused and more powerful.