02-22-2023 Primetime Living - Flipbook - Page 4
4 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, February 22, 2023
CANCER
Treating recurring cancer
New radiation tools to
combat a tumor’s return
By Linda L. Esterson, Contributing Writer
T
he latest report released in January from the American Cancer Society indicates chance for recurrence.
that cancer mortality rates continue to decline. Since 1991, cancer deaths in the
United States have decreased by about 33%.
While patients are living longer, the
chance for cancer recurrence can be
greater. According to William Regine,
M.D., Isadore and Fannie Schneider
Foxman Chair of Radiation Oncology
at the University of Maryland School of
Medicine, new treatments like immunotherapy and advancements to other
treatments keep tumors from spreading to other sites but recurrence at the
original site occurs fairly often, including
when surgery is part of the original treatment plan.
“Typically, the initial treatment may
have involved surgery, which left some
scarring, which makes it harder for therapies used in combination with surgery
like radiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy to get into those scarred
tissue spaces,” Dr. Regine explains.
Scarring limits blood flow to the area,
which reduces the flow of oxygen to
those cells. As a result, some cancer
cells may be left behind, Dr. Regine
continues.
Common areas of recurrence include
the head and neck, brain, esophagus,
liver, lung, breast as well as rectum,
GYN/pelvis, including cervical and
endometrial areas, as well as prostate.
Advances in radiation therapy
Radiation treatment is often implemented either prior to or following surgery, in combination with chemotherapy and immunotherapy, or as a sole
treatment. Radiation exposes tissues
to strong photon X-rays that kill cancer
cells. But traditional photon radiation
also impacts surrounding tissues, and
lower doses may need to be used to
protect those areas, leaving a higher
Recurring tumors that are located
close to critical organs are often treated
with proton therapy, a form of radiation
that administers positively charged particles directly to the tumor through pencil sized beams. Proton therapy spares
nearby tissues, which were already
exposed during traditional photon radiation administered following the initial
diagnosis.
“The challenge with standard radiation is when you try to re-irradiate, you
expose the surrounding tissue to additional radiation by the nature of the way
photons work,” explains Dr. Regine,
who also serves as executive director of
the Maryland Proton Treatment Center
(MPTC), an affiliate of the University of
Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center
(UMGCCC) and Maryland’s first and
only center of excellence in proton
therapy. “There’s not as much ability
with photons in giving as high a dose
and therefore there’s a higher chance
of the cancer recurring. With protons,
since there’s not as much radiation
dose spillage, we have the ability to
deliver a higher dose of radiation that
will have a higher likelihood of getting
rid of a tumor because you’re exposing
less of the normal tissue to additional
radiation.”
In addition, proton therapy yields
fewer side effects than traditional radiation, which can leave a patient feeling
fatigued and tired with little energy, a
lack of appetite, loss of smell or taste,
nausea, vomiting, dry or sore mouth,
issues swallowing, red, itchy and dry
skin, and hair loss. With proton therapy,
the patient may only experience some
fatigue and a sunburn-like redness to
the skin or soreness at the area where
beams were directed. There is typically
less difficulty with performing activities of daily living, and patients return
to work and normal activities most
often the same day. Proton therapy is
administered generally once a day for
less than 30 minutes and often in fewer
treatments than traditional radiation.