PAMF is one of the only health care organizations in the world with this ultra-precise system.

But thanks to PAMF’s new ultra-fine device for radiosurgery, PAMF patient Kitta Reeds was treated with just one short session of radiation that targeted the small cancerous spots on her brain instead of the entire organ. “I had no side effects at all, not even a headache,” Reeds says. “I celebrated my birthday with my family the next day!” Reeds’ experience is what makes radiosurgery so unique and promising for patients with brain tumors and other cancers. Radiosurgery is a non-invasive medical procedure in which X-rays are delivered to the target, such as a cancerous tumor, from outside the body. PAMF is one of the first health care organizations in the world with the HD120 MLC, part of PAMF’s Novalis TX^® radiosurgery system. It allows patients to receive an ultra-precise dose of high-intensity radiation in a matter of minutes and often in a single treatment session.

“My treatment involved one session — versus 15 or 20 sessions [for conventional radiation therapy],” says Reeds. “It targeted the small spots I had, instead of my whole brain, and as a result, there was much less damage to the rest of the [healthy] tissue, and I didn’t have any side effects.”

The radiosurgery system’s sophisticated software calculates the ideal area of the body in which to access the target for treatment, and the ultra-fine beam-shaping device molds to the target’s contours. This ensures that even irregularly shaped tumors receive an exact dose of radiation, which reduces side effects from the treatment because nearby healthy tissue is not exposed to the radiation.

Reeds’ experience is proof of one of the greatest benefits of radiosurgery. “This next-generation technology improves the precision of the treatment beam by 100 percent, allowing us to treat a wide spectrum of conditions, including tumors and cancers that were once thought to be untreatable because of their location close to vital organs and delicate soft tissues,” says Pauling Chang, M.D., a PAMF radiation oncologist and head of the Stanley and Carolyn Hiller Radiosurgical Center, which is part of PAMF’s Cancer Care Program.

Patients undergoing treatment for cancer, including radiosurgery, are part of PAMF’s comprehensive Cancer Care Program. Comprised of a team of oncologists, surgeons, nurses, dietitians, cancer educators and other health care providers, the program helps patients face the many physical and emotional challenges that cancer presents.

Because cancer can often place a great strain on a person’s emotional health, relationships, finances and other aspects of his or her life, PAMF offers patients access to a medical social worker, a physical therapist, a financial counselor and a dietitian — all of whom specialize in the unique needs of cancer patients. The services were designed with the input of patients from the communities PAMF serves and designed to promote healing by helping to ease the burden of living with cancer.

Reeds says PAMF medical social worker, Coleen Travers, MSW, helped her prepare emotionally for receiving treatment with visualization and breathing techniques. “She taught me how to focus on other things and images while I was on the [treatment] table,” Reeds says.

For patients who have questions about what foods they can or should eat during cancer treatment, Erica Framsted, M.S., R.D., a registered dietitian at PAMF, offers strategies for coping with side effects that make eating difficult. And in late 2008, PAMF also became the first major health care organization in its service area to have integrated physical therapy into cancer care. PAMF physical therapist Sharon Leslie, P.T., DPT, says all stages of cancer impact the body, and physical therapy can help ease many of the most common side effects, including edema, fatigue and pain, and dramatically improve patients’ quality of life so they can focus on living — our ultimate goal before, during and after cancer treatment.
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