Chemotherapy is the planned process of taking certain medications to treat your cancer. These drugs can be delivered by a pill or liquid, a vaccine, and most often, through an IV needle that’s connected to your blood stream. Delivery of chemotherapy and the method of delivery varies depending on the type of cancer you have and how your body is responding to the medications. Combination chemotherapy (combining more than one kind of chemo drug in your treatment) is very common as the drugs work together to destroy more cancer cells.
Chemo drugs are very strong and destroy any cell that is growing fast, whether it’s a cancer cell or not. Because healthy cells are harmed, chemotherapy can cause side effects, though some people report no side effects. If you have bad or uncomfortable side effects, your doctor may order a blood test to find out if you need a lower dose, or if you need longer breaks between doses. Because cancer is different for everyone, the medical experts at Capital Health Center for Oncology will work with you to develop a chemotherapy plan that fits your lifestyle.
Capital Health Center for Oncology was the first hospital in the region to offer the TrueBeamTM Linear Accelerator. TrueBeam is the latest, state-of-the-art linear accelerator available and it provides a unique approach to cancer treatment. It gives our physicians and multidisciplinary teams the ability to manage challenging cancers with unparalleled ease and precision anywhere in the body, including the lung, liver, prostate, abdomen, pelvis, breast, head and neck. TrueBeam rotates around the patient to deliver a prescribed radiation dose from nearly any angle. It can perform traditional 3D conformal radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), RapidArc® radiotherapy, and stereotactic radiosurgery.
CyberKnife Radiosurgery, a non-invasive procedure used to treat tumors of the brain, spine and other areas throughout the body, has been available at Capital Health since 2007. This new treatment option gives hope to thousands of people with tumors and lesions once considered inoperable.
CyberKnife Radiosurgery takes treatment of benign and malignant tumors to a new level. Extraordinarily accurate, the radiation beams can be sculpted to reach small, deeply imbedded, complex masses minimizing damage to healthy tissue when compared to other types of radiation therapy. This remarkable capability provides unparalleled access to previously unreachable and untreatable tumors throughout the body when radiation therapy is indicated. CyberKnife is able to treat tumors of the brain, spine, lung, liver, pancreas and prostate.
The da Vinci Surgical System allows surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgery through an incision roughly the size of a dime. Capital Health was the first hospital in Mercer County to offer minimally invasive procedures using the da Vinci Surgical System. The system seamlessly translates the surgeon's hand, wrist and finger movements into precise, real-time movements of surgical instruments inside the patient. In addition to gynecological procedures, the da Vinci Surgical System is used to perform a complex minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of prostate cancer called prostatectomy. The da Vinci Surgical System offers patients less risk of infection, shorter hospital stays, faster recovery and return to normal daily activities, and less scarring than traditional surgery and procedures.