Yuma home to high-tech cancer treatment

Behind a half-ton steel door 6-1/2 inches thick is a new machine used to treat prostate cancer.
 
It's only the second in Arizona, and it's right here in Yuma.
 
Dr. Michael Shea, of Sonoran Desert Oncology, said the machine helps guide radiation therapy during prostate cancer treatment.
 
Shea said the machine, called a Calypso and made by Calypso Medical Technologies Inc., is like a "GPS" system to treat cancer.
 
"I've gotta say, that's pretty cool," Shea said.
 
It works by tracking "seeds" that a urologist plants in a patient, Shea said. When the patient goes for radiation therapy, he said, the Calypso tracks the seeds and guides the laser.
 
 This is important because the prostate gland, which is about the size of walnut, can move during treatment, and that makes it difficult to track. He said the prostate can move because of gas, and movement in areas such as the bladder and bowel.
 
The body is always moving, he said, and no one is ever really "still."
 
"The only way you're ever still is if you're dead. This is the only way we have to hit a moving target."
 
He said the machine will stop everything if the laser moves off target.
 
The laser is able to pinpoint the location of the prostate during treatment within one millimeter, said radiation therapist Michelle Hamilton.
 
That way there's a minimized risk to other tissues and organs near the prostate.
 
Shea and his partner, Dr. Peter Sullivan, installed the machine in December and will have the first patient ready for treatment within the month.
 
Hamilton said most major health insurance carriers, including Medicare, should cover the treatment.
 
Sullivan said he's excited about the purchase and called it a "major upgrade."
 
"(It's) the wave of the future."
 
The machine is part of over $3 million in upgrades Shea and Sullivan have made to their practice.
 
Shea said it's because they want Yuma to have the best resources to treat cancer. He said machines such as the Calypso will allow people to not have to travel far to receive state-of-the-art treatment.
 
"We don't like it when people have to go out of Yuma in order to get treated in the big cities. We want to have everything that's needed here."
 
Sullivan agreed. "We try our best so that people don't have to go place to place."
 
According to the American Cancer Society Web site, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. It's the second leading cause of cancer death among men, behind lung cancer.
 
Shea said though there is debate on how often men should get tested, usually men at risk age 55 to 70 should get a test, which checks the Prostate Specific Antigen level, every year.

And, he said, early detection is key.
 
The American Cancer Society reports that "modern methods of detection and treatment mean that many prostate cancers are now found earlier and can be treated more effectively."   

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Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.