SEVIERVILLE — Thompson Cancer Survival Center provides quality comprehensive cancer treatment close to home, and new upgrades in ever changing technology now enhances that experience even more.
The facility, located at 710 Middle Creek Road, had an open house on Thursday, providing tours of the facility to showcase just how the community can expect to get all aspects of their cancer treatment right in their own community.
“That is a huge thing for patients going through a tough cancer diagnosis and potentially tough treatment,” said Natasha Townsend, the radiation oncologist at the Thompson Cancer Survival Center in Sevierville.
“There is really no need for the patient to spend time going somewhere else when everything is right here.”
Townsend provides radiation oncology, while Anthony DeSalvo is a medical oncologist and hematologist.
The center has several new pieces of technology, including the Elektra Versa HD.
“This machine can deliver treatment a little faster than the previous machine. We can treat a patient in about a 15-minute timeframe,” said Brian Adam, radiation therapist.
“Right now we are treating about 30 patients a day, five days a week.”
The table itself features technology including a robotic positioning system called six degrees of freedom that helps ensure the patient gets the radiation in the most accurate way, more closely focused on the tumor and less radiation on the surrounding tissue.
“We are able to account for patient positioning errors and correct for that before their treatment each day,” said Marsha Lamb, lead radiation therapist.
They also have technology they use as well called Vac Loc, that shapes to the patient and helps the radiation therapist to position the patient if they are struggling to line up as they have on previous occasions.
“It is just a much more precise way to line your patient up,” Adam said.
The center also has a new CT scanner that can take a 4D image and allow doctors to watch the patient’s breathing pattern.
The CT Scans are for radiation planning so medical staff know precisely where to put the radiation in the body.
For more information about Thompson Cancer Survival Center visit ThompsonCancer.com. To make an appointment, call 865-331-2060.
