News

Mercy Launches New Cancer-Fighting Radiation Treatment

May 17, 2006

It’s the diagnosis no one wants to hear—cancer.  Worse yet, what if the cancer is located deep within the recesses of the body?  Many times surgery isn’t a viable option.  Radiation might be the preferred course of treatment.  But even then, it’s difficult to reach some cancers with traditional radiation.  High Dose Rate, or HDR, is a revolutionary new treatment offered at the Mercy Regional Cancer Center .  It means that not only can cancer patients be treated with the latest in radiation technology, but they can also stay close to home for that treatment.

HDR works like this: To deliver radiation, a tiny radioactive pellet made of Iridium, is placed in a catheter by a computer-controlled machine that’s about the size of a large vacuum cleaner.  Radiation is directed only to the area of the patient’s body where the tumor lies or, if the tumor has already been surgically removed, where the cancer is most likely to recur.  The radiation travels only a short distance before it disappears.  It’s delivered precisely to the cancerous area while sparing nearby tissues.  The process is simple, and is given on an outpatient basis, so patients aren’t required to stay in the hospital.  There’s also less recovery time and fewer side effects.

HDR is administered over a much shorter amount of time than traditional radiation techniques.  For example, a patient with cervical cancer might receive the treatment once a day for just two to four days.  Because of the reduced time needed for a course of treatment, John Young, Administrative Director of the Hall Radiation Center, says HDR therapy is an excellent option for patients who live at a distance from normal cancer treatment centers. It can also be a more viable option for those who are not good candidates for surgery.

Young says HDR is a preferred method of treatment for many breast and gynecological cancers.  It has also been used effectively for lung, esophagus, prostate and other cancers. HDR works well, he says, on tumors that grow inside body cavities.  HDR places the treatment right next to the tumor—precisely where it needs to go.  Young says HDR is not for every cancer patient, just as other methods of treatment are only appropriate for some.  But, Young says, “It’s one of the best tools in the arsenal to go after certain cancers. HDR can also be a part of a number of other treatment options pursued.”

HDR has proven to be an especially popular choice for some women with early-stage breast cancer because doctors are able to treat the cancer effectively and preserve the breast at the same time.  That treatment option begins with a lumpectomy, the surgical removal of the cancerous tumor.  Then, using HDR with the patented MammoSite technology, the patient would receive a form of partial breast irradiation.  The radiation is delivered from inside the lumpectomy cavity directly to the tissue where the cancer lies.

The HDR technology is located within the Hall Radiation Center at Mercy Medical Center’s Regional Cancer Center in Cedar Rapids. After launching HDR in April, Mercy is now the only hospital in the Cedar Rapids service area to offer the treatment.  Young says the technology marks another milestone for the Cancer Center as it celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year. 

The new HDR machine cost $388,000.00, and was paid for by the philanthropic Hall-Perrine Foundation of Cedar Rapids.  Iridium, the radioactive material which provides the lethal dose to the cancer cells has a useful shelf life of just three months and thus, needs to be replaced four times a year.

HDR is radical technology that not only gives the hospital another weapon in its cancer-fighting arsenal; it gives cancer patients one more reason to remain optimistic that this new technology will help them live a longer life.