Innovations in Cancer Care

"I had never had surgery before, but my doctor calmed me down a lot. He was very encouraging. With him by my side, I wasn't as worried about it." - Latisha, Hodgkin's Disease Survivor

Helix Hydro-Jet Surgery
Reducing complications. Shortening recovery time. Minimizing trauma to the surrounding tissue. Increased accuracy and effectiveness. These are the benefits of Helix Hydro-Jet surgery, and The Saint Vincent Cancer Care Center is the only provider in the region to offer this capability. Another way Saint Vincent is connecting cancer patients in the region to the nation’s most cutting edge technologies.

Brachytherapy
When you are a prostate cancer patient at The Saint Vincent Cancer Center, it means that you receive your care from the regional experts in prostate cancer, and benefit from capabilities such as bracytherapy and cryotherapy, designed to reduce risk, pain and recovery time, while giving you the best possible clinical result.

Cryotherapy
Better outcomes. Greater quality of life. These are two reasons for choosing the cancer experts at Saint Vincent for cryotherapy treatment of prostate cancer.

Gamma Knife
The Saint Vincent Cancer Care Center is one of over 100 facilities in the United States to offer the benefits of Gamma Knife, a revolutionary alternative to traditional brain surgery. The patient has no incision, no general anesthesia, and the procedure is complete within 30 to 120 minutes.

TEMS
For treating colon/rectal cancer, there is no better choice than the cancer care experts at Saint Vincent, where doctors utilize Transanal Endoscopic Microsurgery (TEMS). The procedure offers higher accuracy, and lessens pain and recovery time for the patient.

"The doctors and nurses in the OR and Surgery Center were extremely compassionate and supportive. When you're in shock over a cancer diagnosis, it is very difficult to feel 'okay.' They helped me find a way to start feeling okay during that phase, which was pivotal - Lucille, Breast Cancer Survivor

Helix Hydro-Jet Surgery for Liver or Pancreatic Cancer

• Reduced risk of complications
• No trauma to surrounding tissue
• Accuracy lessens potential damage to vital organs
• Minimizes bleeding
• Shorter procedure time
• Faster recovery from surgery

Throughout our region, patients in need of surgery for cancer of the liver or pancreas can benefit from the advanced Helix Hydro-Jet technology available only at Saint Vincent. This technology enables the removal of tumors with significantly reduced bleeding and trauma to the organ. As compared with traditional surgery, which involves the scalpel as the primary tool, Helix Hydro-Jet technology works like a giant water-pick, using a high-intensity fine jet of saline to gently lift away and remove cancerous tissue. Because there is no cutting, it helps preserve critical structures such as nerves, vessels and ducts. The Hydro-Jet procedure can minimize bleeding, reduce risk and discomfort to the patient, ease recovery and shorten hospital stay.

Saint Vincent is the only hospital in the region to offer the Helix Hydro-Jet alternative.

"Many words come to mind when I think of my experience with Saint Vincent. Kindness. Caring. Expert surgical intervention. Cutting edge. I was fairly young when I was diagnosed with stage III cancer in 1995, and my doctors worked hard to balance more conservative treatment with newer, state-of-the-art innovations. They went to great lengths to research the very best solutions for me." - Debra, Ovarian Cancer Survivor

Brachytherapy

Saint Vincent physicians pioneered the use of brachytherapy to irradicate prostate cancer. Brachytherapy, implantation with iodine-125 “seeds,” is an extremely effective treatment for prostate cancer. As the iodine decays, radiation is emitted. These radioactive seeds are placed near or in the tumor giving a high dose of radiation to the tumor while reducing the radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. Once implanted, the seeds remain permanently in the body. Fully decayed seeds emit no radiation and are harmless to the body. This procedure, available at Saint Vincent,  is minimally invasive.

Brachytherapy is performed in an outpatient setting, and most patients go home the same day they receive their treatment. The seed implantation process takes about 45 minutes to one hour. By comparison, other treatment options, such as external beam radiation may require up to five treatment visits per week for seven to eight weeks.

Brachytherapy Patient Benefits

• No surgical incision
• Shorter recovery time
• Reduced risk of side effects such as impotence or incontinence

At the Saint Vincent Cancer Care Center, a variety of treatment options, are available to prostate cancer patients. From conventional prostatectomy to minimally invasive, cutting edge technologies such as brachytherapy and cryotherapy, patients and prostate cancer
specialists work together to choose the most appropriate treatment option.

Cryotherapy

Long time Saint Vincent urologist David Dulabon, MD, introduced cryosurgery for prostate cancer patients in our region in 2005.The procedure is performed in an outpatient setting under general or regional anesthesia. It is a minimally invasive procedure that involves no incision. Small needles are inserted into the prostate and argon and helium gases are used to freeze the prostate and destroy it entirely. Ultrasound imaging is used to pinpoint placement and application. The patient generally goes home the same or following day, as opposed to patients who receive radical prostatectomies, which require a brief hospital stay and a three- to five-week recovery.

Outcomes
When compared to radical prostatectomy, cryosurgery patients claim a greater quality of life. Research shows that patients undergoing cryosurgery have a low rate of recurrent cancer; 87% of patients treated with cryotherapy for prostate cancer had negative biopsies after seven years. Cryosurgical ablation of the prostate should not be considered as the primary treatment choice for all men, specifically not for men wanting to continue normal sexual function.

Cryosurgery can be used as first-line treatment in highly selected patients who otherwise would not be good candidates for surgery or radiation. Additionally, cryosurgery can be used in men who have failed traditional radiation therapy.

At the Saint Vincent Cancer Care Center, a variety of treatment options, are available to prostate cancer patients. From conventional prostatectomy to minimally invasive, cutting edge technologies such as brachytherapy and cryotherapy, patients and prostate cancer specialists work together to choose the most appropriate treatment option.

Gamma Knife

Gamma Knife
The Saint Vincent Cancer Care Center is one of only 93 facilities in the United States to offer the Leksell® Gamma Knife, revolutionary technology used to treat brain abnormalities without a single incision. The Gamma Knife is not a knife at all. It focuses the radioactive energy of 201 cobalt-60 sources on very precise targets in the brain. When these low density beams of radiation converge on a brain tumor, they slow the target’s growth and destroy the targeted cells.

In the past, area candidates for Gamma Knife surgery had to travel to Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Buffalo for treatment. Today, Saint Vincent, a leader in stereotactic radiosurgery, is the only site in northwestern Pennsylvania with this advanced technology.

How does Gamma Knife work?
First, a frame is attached to the patient’s head to ensure that the head remains in a fixed position. Patients are then given a short series of advanced diagnostic procedures that determine the precise location of the target within the brain. The tests may include X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, computerized tomography (CT) scans
or other diagnostic imaging techniques. Once completed, the 3-D radiological images enable the treatment team to formulate the best radiation dosage and treatment time.

A special helmet is used in conjunction with the frame to pinpoint the radiation beams on the tumor. The radiation delivery is painless and usually lasts from 30-120 minutes.

During that entire period, patients remain in constant voice and visual contact with the treatment team. Again, no general anesthesia is necessary. After treatment, the helmet and frame are removed and the patient is returned to his/her room. Typically patients are discharged the same day, however, some patients remain overnight for observation. In most cases, patients can return to normal activities within 24-48 hours of the Gamma Knife procedure.

A Gamma Knife treatment is usually accomplished within a single session and, depending on the complexity of the treatment plan, the actual procedure can last anywhere from 30-120 minutes. Also, as a minimally invasive procedure, the use of the Gamma Knife virtually eliminates the need for anesthesia, therefore reducing the side effects that are usually associated with conventional brain surgery. Perhaps most incredible of all, patients can usually resume normal activities within 24-48 hours after the procedure.

Tumors Treated

Benign Tumors
• Acoustic neuromas
• Meningiomas
• Pituitary tumors
• Hemangioblastomas
• Chordomas and pineal tumors

Malignant Tumors
• Metastases
• Glial tumors
• Ocular melanomas 

TEMS

One of the most important benefits of TEMS is the accuracy of the procedure. Because TEMS is performed under magnification with an operative microscope, it is more likely that all of the cancer is removed.

TEMS benefits patients through:

• Shorter length of stay
• Shorter recovery time
• No deep abdominal incisions
• Lower risk of complications
• Accuracy of procedure

Transanal Endoscopic Microsurgery (TEMS)
The Saint Vincent Cancer Care Center was the first facility in western Pennsylvania to offer cutting-edge TEMS technology for the treatment of rectal cancer. Saint Vincent is one of only 49 TEM-capable facilities in the entire United States. With the highest technology in cancer care in the region, there is no need for hours of travel.

TEMS is a minimally invasive procedure that allows the removal of benign or early stage malignant rectal tumors through the rectum without an abdominal incision. The procedure may also be used to remove recurrent lesions.

The Procedure
TEMS involves the insertion of a proctoscope into the rectum. The protoscope can be inserted up to 20 centimeters into the rectum, reaching points very difficult to get to by conventional surgical methods. Because it is performed through the rectum, patients do not have to recover from deep abdominal incisions the conventional methods require.

This significantly reduces length of stay and recovery time. TEMS patients usually return home within a day, and recovery time is typically only one to two weeks.