AdventHealth Gordon offers patient-focused treatment at Harris Radiation Therapy Center
AdventHealth Gordon’s Harris Radiation Therapy Center offers a wide range of therapy to suit individual patients’ needs.
“I think we have an amazing team,” said Dr. William Tong, oncologist at the center. “We’re very patientfocused in terms of not just treating the cancer but also the individual.”
The Harris Radiation Therapy Center focuses on the individual by having staff on hand to provide more holistic treatment. A mental health expert and a dietician round out the staff, allowing patients to focus on both their cancer treatment and overall well being.
The entirety of treatment is seen as a team effort. Numerous professionals work together to iron out the best plan for treating each individual.
Tong and his colleagues also participate in “Tumor Boards”, which is a euphemism for a group collaboration on treatment. The pathologist, radiologist, dosimetrist, and other professionals meet to discuss cases and determine the best path for an individual.
The amount of planning that goes into treating an individual is immense. Imaging is part of the process, allowing the treatment team insight into where radiation is needed.
Dr. Tong uses radiologic images, MRIs, PET scans, and CT scans to map out the tumor and determine where treatment is needed. These images are also used to determine where vital organs are so that side effects from radiation therapy are reduced.
Radiation treatment is given in a kind of beam format, where the radiation is used to bombard the cancer and kill it. This therapy can use protons, which are similar to x-rays, for more shallow cancers such as skin cancer, or electrons for deeper cancers.
The technology involved in treating cancer with radiation is complex. Intensity modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT, is one such technologically-intensive treatment.
Inside the machine, shielding material is used to direct the beam to be the size and shape that each individual treatment requires.
“Advancement in technology has allowed us to actually allow the shielding material to move while the therapy is being delivered,” Dr. Tong said.
This allows for more complicated movements and adjustments to occur in the middle of treatment. Arc treatment also utilizes this technology, but while rotating and moving around a stationary patient.
The center will also be featuring a new method of treatment closer to the end of the year. This treatment, known as stereotactic radiation, will allow for precise, highdosage treatment.
The stereotactic radiation treatment will use specialized imaging, and a precise beam that can be as small as a few millimeters.
Overall, the hospital seeks to provide care not only for cancer, but for individuals as a whole.
The treatment center, to Dr. Tong, is a good space for that healing to happen.
“I think it’s a very comfortable place,” said Dr. Tong.