Your account does not include highlighter on images.
Searches Highlighted on Image
| August 4, 2006 Barnstable Patriot |  |
|
©
Publisher. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 17 (17 of 35 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
August 4, 2006 |
|
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader 
|
Lung cancer screening
remains too mi j m
costly...
for now
By David Curran
news@barnstablepatriot.com
It'sthe cancer that killsthe
more people than any other,
more than 160,000 in the
United States annually, yet
no screening is done for it.
The disease? Lung can-
cer. ¦
"This is a very bad disease
and avery prevalent disease,"
Dr. Jeffrey Spillane, a tho-
racic surgeon with Cape Cod
Healthcare ,told an audience
of 40 during a community
information program at Cape
Cod Hospital last month ,
"And it's a very hidden , for-
gotten disease."
Why no screening, even
though lung cancer is fre-
quently asymptomatic until
it's too late? Mainly because
it's not cost-effective , Dr.
Spillane said. Chest x-rays
don't catch tumors early
enough or often enough for
there to be sufficient survival
benefits , and for now, at least,
the more detailed pictures
yielded by CT scans are too
expensive. PET scans, more
accurate still, are another
dozen times more costly.
It was decided in the 1970s
that the available funding
would be better spent on
prevention , Dr. Spillane said,
and that's where the money
has gone.
The politics of tobacco
played a role, he said, and
so did the perception that
lung cancer is self-induced.
That isn't always true , but
according to lungcancer.org,
between 85 and 95 percent
of lung cancers are smoking
related.
Dr. Spillane said he's "very1
optimistic" about the pros-
pects of improving early de-
tection of lung cancer, which
kills 90,000 men and 70,000
women in the U.S. annually,
numbers he characterized as
"tsunami sized."
"Screening is what'll make
a difference ," he said.
The surgeon said an ongo-
ing study involving 50,000
people between the ages of 55
and 74 with strong smoking
histories, people at high risk
of developing lung cancer, is
showing promise of demon-
strating that CT scans can
be cost-effective.
"I don't have the results
yet,"he said. "We won't have
them 'til 2009. "
Though he didn't discuss
it in his presentation , Dr.
Spillane said in a follow-up
interview that research to
develop blood tests to screen
for lung cancer by detecting
genetic markers shows "a
great deal of promise." The
day he gave his talk, national
media outlets reported en-
couraging research on one
such test , but he said he
believes a lung cancer blood
test is a decade away.
Dr. Spillane said at the
outset of the program that he
brought a surgeon's perspec-
tive to his discussion, and that
he did not plan a hard-hit-
ting quit-smoking message,
though he clearly believes
eschewing tobacco is a critical
factor in minimizing risk.
"The biggest thing any-
body can do in this room to
help deal with this disease is
to make sure the kids aren't
smok-
ing,"-he said. "That's where
we can make headway."
By the time he sees a pa-
tient, smoking is "apost facto
issue," he said.
Dr. Spillane 's layman-
friendly presentation in-
cluded overviews of the
types and stages of lung
cancer and the state of the
art in treatment. He said
surgery is "the best treat-
ment for an early tumor,"
but only 25 percent are
found in time, reinforcing
his observations about
screening.
Chemotherapy or radiation
are often more appropriate ,
he said, and frequently two
or more modalities are used
in combination.
Surgery, chemotherapy
and radiation treatments
all have improved in recent
years , he said. Today 's
chemotherapy drugs are
more refined , he said , and
while they still "definitely
knock the wind out of your
sails,"they also get "a little
bit better year by year."
In terms of efficicency, he
said drugs targeting the
growth receptors on the
surface of cells can stop
cell growth.
Radiation ,meanwhile, has
grown better at focusing on
smaller and smaller areas,
targeting a tumor without
damaging nearby healthy
tissue.
He also mentioned the rela-
tively recent use of radiofre-
quency ablation, atechnique
in which a needle is used to
burn a tumor.
Treatment is tailored on a
case-by-case basis, he said,
and sometimes the best ap-
proach is observation. If a
tumor doesn't change for two
years, he said, it's "very, very
likely benign."
He had high praise for hos-
pice care on the Cape.
"Hospice to me is part of
a treatment program," he
said. "Sometimes we don't
have anything to offer. I often
wish I had better spiritual
training."
Ultimately, he said, pa-
tients have to make their
treatment decisions.
"It is the patient' s right
to choose what to do," he
said.
Introducing the Neurosurgery
Navigator
High tech for
the head
By David Reilly
www.capecodhealthcare.org
High-tech treatments and
procedures that were consid-
ered experimental just a few
years ago are now part of the
standard of care for patients
on the Cape.
The Cape 's health care
system is acquiring more
advanced technology every
year, some of whichisn't even
available in Boston. In other
words, when you've been in-
jured or have an illness, you
do not need to leave the Cape
and the support ofyour family
and friends for your medical
care.
Anexcellent exampleofthis
advanced technology is the
Neurosurgery Navigator.
Neurosurgery isthe branch
of micro-surgery most domi-
nated by the use of state-of-
the-art techniques and tech-
nologies designed to provide
the surgeon with the maxi-
mumergonomic convenience,
information and safety for
their day-to-day work. Obvi-
ously,thisisvitallyimportant
for physicians who are often
working to safely and com-
pletely remove brain tumors.
The Neurosurgery Navigator
is the latest tool designed for
this purpose.
A high-tech, image-guided
surgical system , the Neu-
rosurgery Navigator allows
neurosurgeons at Cape Cod
Hospital to perform intricate
spinal and brain procedures
with more accuracy and less
riskthan ever before. Patients
with deep brain tumors who
were once considered inoper-
able because of the risk now
have new hope.
"Thanks to the Neurosur-
gery Navigator," said Achilles
Papavasiliou, MD, MS, neuro-
surgeon on staff at Cape Cod
Hospital, "the neurosurgeons
on the Cape can perform the
most intricate procedures
witha higher level of accuracy
and less risk than ever for pa-
tients."
The Navigator consists of
a computerized workstation,
an optical camera, and surgi-
cal instruments fitted with
tracking devices. It creates
a map for surgeons on the
Cape by using a patient's
computerized imaging stud-
ies to precisely pinpoint the
surgical site.
"By usingthe Neurosurgery
Navigator, we're able to select
the most direct path to the
tumor, which reduces disrup-
tiontothe brain,and decreases
risksassociated withsurgery,"
said Dr. Papavasiliou. "The
addition of the Navigator has
revolutionized surgery of the
nervous system to give us
the highest level of accuracy
possible."
Usingimagesviewed onthe
computer system, physicians
pinpoint surgicalsites on the
computer screeninrelationto
their surgicalinstruments.By
watchingthemonitor,adoctor
candeterminehowclosehisor
her instruments areto the tu-
mor,and use that information
for amore accurate operation.
Theaccuracycreated withthe
guidance of the system often
reduces surgical time, the
risk of complications, and the
patient's recovery time.
Neurosurgeon Paul Houle,
M.D., alsotouted the benefits
of the Neurosurgery Naviga-
tor."Much like a GPS system
on a boat," Dr. Houle said,
"this technology allows us to
navigate the intricate maze of
the brain andto provide avery
safe and minimally invasive
type of surgery to patients."
BonnieDe Luca willalways
be grateful to her neurosur-
geonDr.Papavasiliou,andhis
skilleduseoftheNeurosurgery
Navigator during her June,
2005, surgery. Thanks to Dr.
Papavasiliou'sexperience and
the precision ofthe Navigator,
Bonniehasnoresidual effects
fromthesurgerysheneeded to
remove an atypical carcinoid
tumor from her brain.
"When Dr.Papavasilioutold
meIwouldneed surgerytore-
movethe tumor,he explained
about the NeurosurgeryNavi-
gator and told me it would
help make the surgery more
accurate,"Bonnieremembers.
"I was worried that I would
have side effects likememory
loss or problems moving my
hands, but there were no
problems at all."
Last year,the neurosurgery
team at Cape Cod Hospital,
which includes Patrick J.
Murray, M.D., as well as Dr.
Houle and Dr. Papavasiliou,
performed approximately
1,000 procedures, including
the gamutof servicesfrom spi-
nal arthroplasty to minimally
invasive brain surgery.
The three neurosurgeons
provide round-the-clock
neurological coverage for
both Cape Cod Hospital and
FalmouthHospital, and then-
practice, Neurosurgeons of
Cape Cod,draws patients not
only from southeastern Mas-
sachusetts, but also from as
far away as Rhode Island and
Connecticut as well.
Neurosurgeons of Cape Cod, located
at 130 North Street in Hyannis, can
be reached at 508-771-0006.
fefrJ Physical Therapists
B
M Specializing In Evaluation
M a
U
H
t * Treatment Of Orthopedic
¦
'"
" m and Sport Injuries
¦
¦
"-* M
UUtZ
] A™te Injuries Seen
Mfl'Mih'M Within 24 hours
X cOWE SEE ,0 Exercise Memberships
1THE J°HNKfc EXPO
m ROfVOR*c;i o ovd Aquatic TherapyAvailableat
ttn
*2_ £tt-- Sandwich %WestBarnstable
735 Attucks Lane, Hyannis 800 Rt. 2S, Mash pee 1336 Main St.Osterville
PREFERRED PROVIDERS FOR MOST HEALTH INSURANCES
Website:www.capecodrehab.com Email:ccrehab@cape.com
Hluo Cross/Blue ShviM - Meduaiv - HMO Blue • Harvard/Pilgrim
Ai'trM • l.igna • I"uft> • fri-Care • 1 li-.iilli Can' Value Management
MEDICAL ALARMS USA
Don'
t Be Alone Without Us!
466 Main Street, Dennisport, | |
MA 02639 \ /
Visit our website:
www.medicalalarmsusa.com ¦
OR Call For Details: ***
K
PV Ibsa
. ,.
j (¦
* -. '""Mfitti
1-800-432-7502 W WM
BOMnnBHHiHi3Hnn |
KvMW TJKI
UNIQUE HOME
DETOX™
for drugs and alcohol.
Private & confidential.
Physician Directed.
Covered by most
insurance plans.
KEEP THE TOWN I
STRONG... I
Shop Locally! I
- ~«ass Senior Compass
•4*