Health Center to be First in
UConn Foundation newsletter Momentum, Fall 2006 issue
A gift of $2.5 million from Carole and Ray Neag ’56 will make the UConn Health Center the first facility in New England scheduled to offer a revolutionary new cancer treatment.
Thanks to the gift, patients and clinicians at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center will have access to a Helical TomoTherapy Hi-Art system in the summer of 2007. There are currently only about 100 TomoTherapy machines in use worldwide.
Dr. Carolyn Runowicz, director of the Cancer Center and president of the American Cancer Society, says the addition of TomoTherapy is a tremendous asset to the UConn Health Center’s patients and, increasingly, its internationally renowned medical staff.
“This technology fits in perfectly with our mission and vision to provide state-of-the-art care to the residents of Connecticut,” she says.
TomoTherapy delivers radiation to a precisely mapped section of the body with an accuracy never before possible. This precision not only allows for more specific treatment of tumors, but also reduces the amount of healthy tissue exposed to radiation.
“What this means for our patients is more accurate treatment,” says Dr. Robert Dowsett, division chief of Radiation Oncology at the UConn Health Center. “Precision and accuracy can make a big difference in treating some tumors that are adjacent to critical organs, for example, cancer in the head and neck, brain or prostate.”
Dowsett cites that even sophisticated existing treatment methods for head and neck tumors still expose the salivary glands to significant radiation. Over time, this leads to discomfort and dental problems as the glands dry out. By focusing the radiation more precisely, those side effects may be less severe.
Prior to treatment, detailed 3-D imagery is taken of the patient, and the doctor uses special software to “paint” on the image, identifying specific regions to receive radiation and those to remain untouched. Unlike previous technologies using wide bands of radiation from a limited choice of directions, TomoTherapy uses rotating narrow “pencil” beams of radiation to treat the tumor from all sides, with variable intensity.
The Neags say that their interest in TomoTherapy stems from Carole Neag’s own radiation treatments, as well as a desire to put the UConn Health Center at the forefront of cancer research and technology.
“This raises the UConn Health Center up another notch,” says Ray Neag. “The people of Connecticut should have the best care available to them, and it’s a wonderful opportunity now to upgrade the technology.”
Carole Neag envisions the UConn Health Center taking a leadership role in cancer prevention and treatment across New England.
“As we better understand cancer, the UConn Health Center will be on the cutting edge. That’s what motivated us to make the gift,” she says.
