Monday, October 3, 2022
San Juan Regional Cancer Center Reopens with New, State-of-the-Art Equipment
San Juan Regional Cancer Center is pleased to announce that it is now back open and serving the needs of our community with new advanced technology to treat even the smallest of cancers that we were previously unable to treat here at home.
The $5 million investment includes a CT scanner and linear accelerator that work in tandem. The CT scanner pinpoints the exact location of a tumor and then sends that information to the linear accelerator, a radiation therapy machine, for precise treatment.
Our new CT scanner, the GE CT Simulator, uses lasers and 4D imaging to specifically and accurately target and image the area to be treated. The simulator also includes a respiratory gating system that can detect and monitor breathing, so even if a tumor moves while someone is breathing, the radiation therapy knows to adjust accordingly. We are one of the first hospitals west of the Rockies to get this new technology.
Our linear accelerator, the Varian Edge Radiosurgery System, delivers stereotactic radiation therapy. This is a “cyber knife” that can precisely deliver treatment to the very smallest of tumors from multiple different angles at the same time.
“We have not had that kind of technology before. So, we are going to be able to treat the very smallest of tumors that could live on a nerve,” said Troy Fuhrman, Director of San Juan Regional Cancer Center. “It’s amazing treatment. Very precise. Before we would have to send some of our patients to Mayo for treatment. Technology has come such a long way that now we are going to have this in San Juan County.”
Since the Radiosurgery system delivers more precise treatment, it helps to preserve healthy tissue surrounding the treatment area. Plus, one of the biggest benefits is that it can deliver treatment in fewer sessions – for some cancers, just two weeks.
“The fatigue that comes from chemo and radiation is astronomical. So, to cut that down from eight to 10 weeks to just two, how exciting is that?” said Deb Albin, RN and Cancer Navigator at San Juan Regional Cancer Center. “We are going to be able to do so much more, cut down treatment time, it’s so beneficial to our patients.”
San Juan Regional Cancer Center is now scheduling appointments as it resumes treatment with this new technology. For more information, visit our website https://www.sanjuanregional.com/ourservices/cancer or call us at 505.609.6259. Patients are also encouraged to call Cancer Navigator Deb Albin with any questions or concerns they may have at 505.609.6089.
Troy Fuhrman, Director of San Juan Regional Cancer Center, discusses the installation of the new GE CT Simulator
Chelsea Page-Robertson, a Medical Physicist with Colorado Associates In Medical Physics, tests the Varian Edge Radiosurgery System