Tri-Cities cancer center gets $6M upgrade for tumor, arthritis treatment

The Kadlec Tri-Cities Cancer Center has brought an improved radiation treatment system to the Tri-Cities for cancer and arthritis patients in a $6.2 million project.

“The science of cancer treatment is changing,” said Dr. Andrew Roehrig, radiation oncologist at the center. “This new system is faster, safer and more convenient for patients. It allows us to monitor and treat tumors in real time.”

The system combines a linear accelerator, used to provide radiation treatment to kill cancer cells, with a diagnostic computer tomography, or CT, imaging capabilities.

That eliminates the need for patients to have separate, repeated CT scans as their treatment advances, according to the center.

It also has the advantage of capturing high quality images while the patient is on the radiation treatment table, allowing their treatment team to immediately see any changes to the tumor.

Tumors can be more precisely targeted with radiation, while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue, according to the center.

The new system also provides treatment more quickly and comfortably.

If a patient moves during treatment, the system halts and adjusts to retarget the tumor before resuming radiation treatment. The treatment table can be adjusted, allowing pitch and roll, to better align the tumor to match the treatment plan. The patient will not have to contort into uncomfortable positions to make sure radiation is correctly targeted.

If there are multiple tumors, the system can map, target and treat them within a single treatment plan, reducing the amount of time the patient spends in treatment, according to the center.

The new Varian TrueBeam HyperSight Linear Accelerator was made possible by a $6.2 million investment by Providence into the cancer center in Kennewick. It replaces one of the center’s two linear accelerators that provide radiation treatment.

The money covered the new system, the construction costs to install the system’s large equipment and updating the center’s other linear accelerator.

“When it was time to replace the older machine, we said we wanted to get the best of the best, and we have,” said Steve Bosma, medical physicist with the cancer center.

Treating arthritis

The system also may be used to quiet inflammation in the the joints of patients with significant osteoarthritis when medications and injections are no longer helpful.

A 2022 review in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics said numerous studies had shown pain relief and mobility improvement after using low dose radiation to treat joints with osteoarthritis.

The treatment is common in Europe and is increasingly being used in the United States, according to the cancer center.

“It can really improve someone’s quality of life,” said Dr. Ryan Kraus, radiation oncologist with the cancer center. “Two out of three people have a meaningful response that can last for years.”