Cancer center expands

Kansas City Cancer Center celebrated its newest location in Johnson County with a ribbon cutting and open house Sept. 15.

The Cancer Center is on the first floor of the Santa Fe Medical Building adjacent to Shawnee Mission Medical Center. This newest location, 9301 W. 74th St., Suite 100, marks the cancer center’s 11th location in the metro area.

“We are very glad that (Kansas City Cancer Center) is here,” said Steve Kelly, deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Commerce.

Kelly spoke at the cancer center’s ribbon cutting, along with Roderick Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

The 25,000-square-foot facility offers state-of-the-art cancer treatment, including TomoTherapy radiation.

The TomoTherapy device provides radiation through a CT scan.

“It’s what’s called adaptive radiation therapy,” radiologist James Coster, MD, said.

Radiation beams from the TomoTherapy machine rotate and physicians can alter the dose of radiation to provide the most optimal treatment. Radiologists can program the machine to give higher doses of radiation to areas affected by the cancer and virtually no radiation to surrounding areas.

“It allows you to give a very high dose of radiation to a small area,” Coster said. “The trick is not giving too much to normal tissues that you damage along the way.”

Coster said this treatment can be used for a variety of cancers. For patients with recurring cancer, this treatment provides an opportunity for radiation that would not be possible with other radiation devices, Coster said.

“There’s no doubt that this is the future of radiation therapy,” medical oncologist Thomas Repine, MD, said. “This is really one of the jewels of this institution.”

The cancer center has offered TomoTherapy for about six weeks, and has given more than 250 treatments with the machine.

“It’s a great advantage to patients as they are able to have less side effects, which in turn affects their quality of life as they are going through treatment,” cancer center nurse Joy Mustapich, RN, OCN, said. “Most patients, when they are finished, do have positive comments.”

Mustapich has been a nurse for 20 years. She said she enjoys the oncology specialty.

“I’ve always had a heart for oncology patients and their families,” Mustapich said.

Kansas City Cancer Center operates as an affiliate of US Oncology Inc. For more information about Kansas City Cancer Center sites, visit www.kccancercenter.com.

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