By CHRIS HUNTER

Salina Journal

New technology at Salina's Tammy Walker Cancer Center, 511 S. Santa Fe, is improving the treatment of cancer.

"The science (of fighting cancer) is moving fast," said Dr. Muhammad Ahmed, oncologist at Tammy Walker. "We can do many things we were not able to do 10 years ago."

Ahmed said newer technology has made treatment of patients easier for doctors and safer for patients.

With new types of radiation and chemotherapy, Ahmed said there are fewer side effects and complications caused by the treatment of cancer.

"Before, most patients needed to be hospitalized when going through chemotherapy," Ahmed said. "Now, there are hardly any that are hospitalized."

As a member of the Midwest Cancer Alliance, Ahmed said, the cancer center has been able to try new treatments through a relationship with the University of Kansas.

"We can do consultations and treatment here," Ahmed said. "Patients no longer have to go to Kansas City or the main KU campus."

'Top of the line'

When Dr. Claudia Perez-Tamayo started practicing radiation oncology in 1981, technology for treating tumors was very different.

There were no CT scans or Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines, but more diagnoses were made by the physicians examining the patient.

"We had to do everything with X-rays and without the ability to predict the spread of the cancer," Perez-Tamayo said. "We also had to treat larger areas than where the tumors were located."

Perez-Tamayo said the center's new Trilogy machine is the "top of the line" in cancer treatment.

The Trilogy combines older surgical equipment such as the CyberKnife robotic surgery system and the Gamma Knife with new equipment that helps doctors find tumors.

Perez-Tamayo said the Gamma Knife usually is used to treat tumors in a patient's head using cobalt and requires a neurosurgeon to attach the machine to the skull. The CyberKnife can be used to cut out tumors using markers from X-rays, but sometimes a tumor moves.

"With the Trilogy, we are able to see the cancer live," Perez-Tamayo said. "We couldn't focus on it in the past, so we would have to treat parts of normal structures. Once the radiation beam is set to a certain shape, it focuses exactly on the tumor. When you move, like breathing, this (machine) moves (to follow the tumor)."

Perez-Tamayo said the Trilogy is able to cut a tumor "like a knife," using high-grade radiation that is lethal to tumors, not patients.

Perez-Tamayo said the Trilogy machine itself costs several million dollars. But the machine is worthless without personnel trained to use it.

"It is not just about having it," Perez-Tamayo said. "If I told you every house had a Concorde (plane), how many would have runways or trained personnel? You can have the machine, but you have to have the trained personnel, as well, to use it to its full capability. You need the people and the machinery."

Advances abound

Ahmed said treatment at Tammy Walker has advanced by leaps and bounds over the years, and community outreach and screening also are important.

"I feel proud to say that, at Tammy Walker Cancer Center, we are able to offer care almost equal to many of the biggest centers in the country," Ahmed said. "Except for bone marrow transplants, we can do almost any kind of treatment available in the country."

nReporter Chris Hunter can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at chunter@salina.com.