Technological advances continue to make a huge difference in the lives of cancer care patients at the Marie Yeager Cancer Center in Royalton Township according to the 2017 annual report from Lakeland Health.
The regional hospital giant recently released the 2017 Cancer Care Report from the Marie Yeager Cancer Center which outlines data collected to create more meaningful improvements for cancer diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and support.
In addition to the addition of three new physicians providing specialized cancer care, the report focuses on Lakeland’s introduction of IORT technology — the Intraoperative Radiation Therapy System from Zeiss Intrabeam, which is savings lives and money.
The three new physicians who will provide specialized cancer care, include plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Ginard Henry, MD; radiation oncologist, Peter Paximadis, MD; and neurosurgeon, Rafeek Woods, MD.
Meanwhile, the Zeiss Intrabeam IORT therapy system for breast cancer patients, which delivers a targeted single-dose of radiation to the site of the tumor after a lumpectomy, is changing the face of things at the regional hospital system. Shortly after introducing that new technique in radiation treatment, Lakeland Health was asked to participate in two clinical trials which will potentially expand this treatment option to patients of all ages who are both high and low risk. Since December of 2016, a total of 31 patients have received IORT therapy; 52 weeks of radiation therapy and over $1,000,000 in costs to patients have been saved.
In an effort to target cancer education toward African American women, Lakeland partnered with Strong Women of Faith, a local, community-based support group to train members on the importance of breast health. As a result, 157 mammograms were performed on African-American women, including 44 first time mammograms. Four cases of breast cancer were diagnosed. In 2016, a total of 926 total cancer cases were treated at Lakeland Health and added to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB).
Of those patients:
- The four most common cancer sites included: lung, female breast, prostate, and colorectal
- Gender distribution: 52.92-percent were female and 47.08-percent were male
- Age distribution: 71.14-percent were 60 years and older, 26.81-percent were between the ages of 30 and 59, and 2.05-percent were 29 years or younger
For more information or to read the full report, click the link below:
