The Mission Hope Cancer Center combines treatment, research, imaging, education and outreach at one location.
As National Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, Mission Hope Cancer Center is focusing on new technology and treatment for breast cancer patients, who make up 40 percent of the center’s population.
The Santa Maria center is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers and is the only Central Coast facility with that distinction.
New technology increases treatment’s precision, helping oncologists target the growth without letting radiation reach vital organs, like the heart and lungs.
“Mission Hope Cancer Center provides patients with the most advanced care possible, right in their own community,” radiation oncologist Dr. Ben Wilkinson said. “With this new treatment, the level of cure is high, and patients can live long healthy lives, free of disease.”
Active breathing control is utilized to distance the heart from the treatment area. When a patient takes a deep breath, the chest lifts away from the heart, and less radiation reaches the heart.
Dr. Wilkison has also introduced three-dimensional surface mapping. It helps oncologists adjust patients into the same position each radiation treatment.
“This advanced equipment was acquired to offer our breast cancer patients the best treatment possible, as well as prolonged health to free of heart disease and issues with the lungs as a result of radiation therapy,” Dr. Wilkinson said.
The technology may assist the oncologist, but it provides a better quality of life to the patients.
Mission Hope partners physicians and oncologists in a multidisciplinary approach to treatment that’s catered to each patient.
email: ahanshaw@newspress.com
