In an effort to enhance the radiation oncology services offered to the community, Scottsdale Healthcare is pleased to announce a long-term relationship with Arizona Center for Cancer Care (AZCCC), a multi-specialty group of Arizona’s most recognizable names in cancer treatment and technology. Through this, AZCCC has opened facilities at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare, and will now be providing radiation oncology services at both its Shea Medical Center and Osborn Medical Center locations. Arizona Breast Cancer Specialists (ABCS), AZCCC’s partner focused solely on caring for breast cancer patients, will also now provide services as part of this relationship.
“We welcome AZCCC to both our campuses and are excited for the opportunity to work together with them to provide exceptional oncology care to our community,” said Lindsay Thomas, director of oncology for Scottsdale Healthcare.
Throughout the early summer, AZCCC and ABCS have been focused on completing a renovation to its new radiation oncology facility at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center in order to accommodate the expected increased volume of patients and to bring leading-edge cancer care technology to Scottsdale Healthcare. Now complete and open to patients, facility renovations include:
· More than doubling the number of exam rooms in the department
· The addition of RapidArc Stereotactic Radiosurgery as a treatment option, which will allow for short courses of high-dose radiation for the first time ever at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center
· The installation of a new iX Linear Accelerator manufactured by Varian, the industry leader in radiation equipment, capable of delivering precision Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with daily image guidance therapy
“IMRT utilizes special imaging and treatment delivery techniques to define the size, shape and location of the tumor as well as normal tissue. It allows us to precisely design the radiation beams to the size and shape of the patient’s tumor while avoiding normal organs,” said Dr. Farley Yang, a partner at AZCCC and member of the Scottsdale Healthcare medical staff for over 10 years.
Dr. Yang was one of the first radiation oncologists in Arizona to successfully use IMRT. In addition, many of his patients have benefited from Stereotactic Radiosurgery procedures for both brain and body tumors, which is able to deliver high doses of pin-point radiation to small cancers in less than one week.
“We are excited to work closely with Scottsdale Healthcare administration and medical staff to build a world-class oncology program here in Scottsdale,” said Dr. Robert Kuske, co-founder of ABCS who is now working out of the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center fulltime.
Dr. Kuske is the pioneer of breast brachytherapy, a five-day radiation therapy alternative for women with early stage breast cancer. External beam radiation therapy is safe and very effective, but can take six weeks of daily treatment. Breast brachytherapy, or partial breast irradiation (PBI), has been researched and tested by Dr. Kuske since 1991 as a treatment method after lumpectomy. He has advanced the techniques and technology, and championed the research.
Today, he is co-principal investigator in the largest breast cancer radiation trial in history. His trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, is testing head-to-head six-week whole breast radiation versus five-day PBI.
Joining Drs. Yang and Kuske at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center will be fellow radiation oncologist Dr. Luci Chen. In addition to serving as a fellow partner, Dr. Chen also brings experience from her time as clinical director of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital and as assistant professor of radiation oncology at the University of Chicago. She has also been awarded a Fellowship by the American Cancer Society for her clinical research in cancer care.
“We are committed to providing the best practices in radiation oncology at Scottsdale Healthcare, including RapidArc Stereotactic Radiosurgery, IMRT, Brachytherapy including PBI, as well as other services,” said Dr. Chen.
Dr. Diane C. Recine, who is currently a member of the Scottsdale Healthcare medical staff, has joined AZCCC and will continue to provide radiation oncology services at the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center. In addition to her current role, Dr. Recine practiced at and served as director of residency programs for the Department of Radiation Oncology at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago and has both taught radiation oncology courses at the University of Chicago and has served as assistant professor of radiation oncology at Rush Medical College.
For more information, please visit www.arizonaccc.com.
