Cancer radiation treatments are becoming faster thanks to a new machine in Kelowna that鈥檚 the first of it鈥檚 kind in Canada.
BC Cancer Kelowna has the first Ethos adaptive radiation therapy unit in Canada, making the process and the planning of treatments easier and faster.
With both older machines and the new Ethos machine, radiation treatments only take anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes but the new machine quickens the planning process exponentially.
With the older machines, radiation treatment is the same everyday, and when, for example, someone鈥檚 tumor gets smaller, the team of doctors has to create a new plan that could take days to make and put in place.
With the new Ethos machines, a new plan, customized to each patient, is built in 15-20 minutes and the computer instantly starts creating the next plan once the radiation treatment for that day is complete.
鈥�12 years ago, you wouldn鈥檛 imagine making a treatment plan everyday,鈥� said Senior Physical Therapist Nathan Becker.
Bachand added that the machine does around 80 per cent of the work while they complete the other 20 per cent.
While radiation machines have been around for a long time now, this is the first that is brand new to the industry.
鈥淭he older [machines] are 60鈥檚, 70鈥檚 80鈥檚 technology and they鈥檝e done a lot of add-ons over time,鈥� said Becker. 鈥淭his machine is built from the ground up, it鈥檚 been built to be as streamlined as possible.鈥�
It鈥檚 been a long process not just for BC Cancer Kelowna, but for cancer centres around the world to use this new technology. This machine got FDA approved in 2020 and approved by Health Canada around a year ago. Before it was even approved, the Kelowna centre was looking at purchasing one. When the technology got approved by Health Canada, Kelowna was in line to purchase the machine.
Kelowna鈥檚 centre started training on the machine on Dec. 12 and have been treating patients on it for three weeks now. While this is currently the only clinical machine in Canada, meaning its the only one in use, Newfoundland also has one they will be launching soon and Vancouver is expected at get two machines either late in 2023 or early in 2024. There are also a few hundred machines in use in the United States and because the technology is still so new, the Kelowna Cancer Centre is in constant communication with the research groups in America talking around strategy and techniques with the machine and side effects from patient to patient. A clinic in Europe also has five of the machines.
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On top of being able to plan quicker and make the actually treatment a little faster, the hope is patients will experience less side affects with this machine as well. Because of the technology, the machine is able to be more precise, therefore affecting less organs in the process.
鈥淔or the patient experience in general should be improved,鈥� said Bachand. 鈥淏ecause you can identify the structures that you鈥檙e trying to protect everyday, we hope the patients will experience less side effects and recover faster. We don鈥檛 really know for sure that that will make a certain difference. It would make sense but we鈥檒l see that in the coming years because it does takes a while before you can really look back and see how patients did. It doesn鈥檛 take long to see how patients do on treatment but how they recover and if there鈥檚 any side effects six or 12 months later.鈥�
Whether the machine is old or new, the centre is able to treat 30 patients a day but are hoping they are able to treat more in a day with the tech machine. Because its still so new, it鈥檚 too early to tell.
Each year, the Kelowna centre has 2,700 new cancer patients that require radiation.
And while this machine is the lately and greatest, the older machine are still effective in eliminated one鈥檚 cancer as some machines are tailored to different types of cancer.
鈥淭his is a tool in our arsenal,鈥� said Becker 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 necessarily five Ferraris in your garage. This is the Ferrari of our treatment machines.鈥�
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One someone comes in to receive their treatment, it鈥檚 a complex process with a lot of moving parts.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of people involved,鈥� said Yendley.
In each treatment, there is at the minimum, two radiation therapists, radiation oncologist, and medical physicist.
With the new machine, patients can go inside and get themselves into the machine to make sure their information is correct, then the team of doctors begins the set up for radiation. With the radiation goes on, the team is outside controlling the machine, making sure everything is in place, and is able to see and talk to the patient.
Before the machine arrived, the cancer centre renovated the place, including adding a back room that鈥檚 specifically for training purposes with the new machine. Because each treatment is time sensitive, the team running the operation stays in there positions while doctors and students who are learning sit in the back room and can also see the process through the camera that doctors are watching through.
鈥淚 think the learning curve is pretty quick at the moment,鈥� said Bachand. 鈥淚 feel strongly that we鈥檒l be able to contribute to these other centres as well with introducing new techniques, it鈥檚 going really well.鈥�
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