The Methodist Cancer Institute in Memphis is now offering the Elekta Unity system which boasts cutting-edge technology in treating cancer. The said cancer treatment is only offered in eight healthcare facilities in the US.
Transformative Treatment For Cancer
When we hear the word "cancer," the first thing that comes to our mind is "radiation therapy." It's an overused word that is always linked to the disease.
Multiple sessions of radiation therapy can be pretty costly especially if it's the only way to get rid of the cancer cells in the body.
According to Commercial Appeal, this technique can be further improved by incorporating a more revolutionary technology on it.
As per Methodist Cancer Institute's medical director Dr. Lloyd Geddes, 50% of people with cancer are relying on radiation therapy at the moment.
Somehow, there's a need for it to be transformative so it can cover even the most extreme types of cancer.
According to Nate Thorne who works as the director of medical physics in the facility, Methodist began installation of the Elekta Unity system at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, the team rolled out the technology to the patients, but only a few managed to test it because of the COVID restrictions.
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What Does the Elekta Unity System Do For Cancer Patients?
Elekta, the company behind the Elekta Unity System, finally launched the technology in Memphis last Tuesday, Feb. 20.
The Swedish firm, known for its precision treatment system, has specialized radiation therapy into a more effective way to remove the cancer cells inside a patient's body.
By using magnetic resonance imaging along with the linear accelerator, the radiation will only focus on eliminating the harmful cancer cells. What's good about this is that the healthy cells remain unaffected by the process.
Some patients might encounter a few side effects that they can experience when they undergo the traditional radiation method.
Depending on the area that's undergoing the treatment, nausea, hair loss, fertility loss, and headache are some of the common side effects that they can feel.
The Elekta Unity System can be an important tool in treating more serious types of cancer in vital organs such as the brain and liver. Some methods like CT scans are the only ways to detect these kinds of cancer.
"MRI just gives us such incredible imaging and we have the ability to actually see the tumor in a way that we just can't see it with anything else," Dr. Lillian Rinker, a medical director of Radiation Oncology for the Methodist Cancer Institute said.
In other news, an HIV patient was miraculously cured after undergoing stem cell cancer treatment, according to News Scientist. The stem cells were obtained from a donor who is immune to the virus.
Elsewhere, a group of Korean researchers has created a urine sensor that can quickly diagnose cancer among patients, Tech Times reported.
