GLASGOW — Local cancer patients will have access to a new state-of-the-art treatment option beginning this week.
Staff members of the Barren River Regional Cancer Center, 103 Trista Lane, were finalizing the calibration and testing of a new $3 million Trilogy linear accelerator last week in preparation for it going online for use with patients.
The center is a joint endeavor between T.J. Samson Community Hospital and The Medical Center at Bowling Green and has been open since 2003. A renovation, including the addition of the Trilogy and upgrades to the facility have just been completed recently.
Dr. Craig Tyree, radiation oncologist, was surprised how quickly construction was completed by Scott, Murphy & Daniel Construction Company of Bowling Green.
“It was six months from the day they started to the day they finished,” he said. “It was very impressive how much they got done in such a short period of time.”
Patients will now reap the benefits of the new amenities such as a new covered area for loading and unloading, which is more accessible, and individual changing rooms that include showers, sinks and toilets.
But the greatest advancement to the center by far is the Trilogy. The state-of-the-art equipment has two main advantages over the existing machine, according to Tyree.
“The new machine, for one thing, will get them off the table a lot quicker,” he said. “The other thing it will allow is for more precision. With a cone beam CT before treatment each day, we will have tighter fields and tighter precision. The Trilogy also delivers at a higher dose rate and that speeds up the treatment.”
The center treats 25 patients a day on average now. Tyree expects that number to increase as the local population increases and ages. Because the Trilogy is more efficient and the turnaround time for patient treatment will be less, it will help the staff accept a higher patient load, he said.
The center works with all types of adult cancers and with Trilogy will be as effective as any facility found in larger cities.
“Pretty much anything at the university setting we can do here now with the exception of implants,” Tyree said. “We treat the whole spectrum from brain tumors, lung tumors, prostate, breast, pretty much any type of cancer.”
The center does not handle pediatric cases because children need different types and levels of treatment.
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