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The Cancer Care Center, located on the first and second levels of the building, offers nationally recognized medical expertise and a full range of advancements in cancer treatment approaches. Patients travel from throughout the Midwest and other parts of the country to receive care from Lutheran General's renowned cancer experts. These specialists are dedicated to the treatment of the most common to the rarest forms of cancer through the latest research and technology, while focused on providing a supportive environment for patients and their families. In addition, the latest diagnostic imaging routinely needed by cancer patients is conveniently located within the same building at the Center for Advanced Imaging.
To learn more about our comprehensive cancer services, please click on the following:
The advancements in cancer treatment offered at the center include:
Tomotherapy
This new, revolutionary way to treat cancer with radiation provides superior targeting of tumors and minimizes side effects for patients. This treatment is particularly useful for head and neck, pancreatic, gynecological, prostate and sarcoma cancers, and pediatric patients. Lutheran General will be the first hospital in the northwest suburbs to offer this technology.
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)
One of the newest computer-assisted radiation treatment breakthroughs for prostate, breast, head, neck and brain cancer, the IMRT technique delivers the highest energy treatment by wrapping multiple beams of radiation around a tumor area, while protecting adjacent normal tissues.
Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI)
To reduce the risk of cancer coming back after surgery, focused radiation techniques are offered to target only the area of the breast where a tumor has been surgically removed. Outpatient treatments such as breast brachytherapy (MammoSite) apply a radiation dose directly to the place where the tumor used to be. This procedure, done in collaboration with the radiation oncologist, surgeon and medical oncologist, may reduce radiation treatment time, while still providing the optimal dose.
Low-dose rate (LDR) prostate brachytherapy (seed implants)
This outpatient, nonsurgical procedure for early stage prostate cancer places tiny radioactive seeds into the prostate to destroy cancer in that area, without affecting other parts of the body.
High-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy
With high-dose rate brachytherapy, radiation oncologists can treat tumors that are confined to a small area with intense, localized doses of radiation. This outpatient procedure significantly reduces treatment time for patients. Lutheran General is one of the few centers in the Midwest to offer this type of treatment for prostate cancer.
Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)/radiotherapy
In this outpatient, nonsurgical treatment, a very precise, high-powered localized radiation beam is used to treat defined, deep-seated tumors, usually in the brain, for which surgery would be risky. Three-dimensional computer imaging is used to target the tumor and direct the radiation beam from several angles.
Radiopharmaceuticals
Radiation oncologists at the Lutheran General Cancer Care Center use this innovative radioisotope technology to treat bone metastases and lymphoma.
Radiation oncology equipment at the center also includes two linear accelerators that beam electrons or high-energy X-rays through the skin to the targeted site, and a multileaf collimator that precisely focuses the linear accelerator's beam, avoiding damage to healthy cells.
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