Health Quest 4
Given intravenously for 10 to 15 minutes every four weeks for six
months, Xofigo (radium-223 dichloride) is a radioactive material that
the body thinks is calcium and delivers it to bones, attacking cancer
cells there and preserving healthy tissue. According to Dimitrios
Papadopoulos, MD, Medical Director of Health Quest Oncology Services,
Xofigo is an effective option for patients with advanced prostate cancer.
"Xofigo can improve patients' quality of life, reduce pain and minimize
the need for other medications," says Dr. Papadopoulos. "ere is also
a small improvement in survival rates among patients who take the
medication."
A clinical trial of 1,000 men showed that some patients receiving
Xofigo lived an average of four months longer than they would have
without the drug, and they experienced fewer of the side effects common
with chemotherapy treatments.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT XOFIGO, TALK WITH YOUR PHYSICIAN TO SEE
WHAT TREATMENT COURSE IS BEST.
Performed prior to breast cancer surgery, seed localization marks
tumors only seen on imaging in the breast that must be removed.
Many tumors present on imaging only and could be eligible for seed
localization. By having tiny radioactive seeds placed in the breast
up to five days before surgery, patients avoid the discomfort and
inconvenience of wire localization—the insertion of wire into a
patient's breast on the same day as surgery.
"e surgeons use a probe in the Operating Room to sweep across
the breast to find the seeds, which have been placed in the tumor prior
to surgery," says Angela Keleher, MD, FACS, Director of Breast Surgery
at Health Quest Cancer Care. "en, the surgeons are able to make an
incision directly over the tumor and excise the tumor using the probe as
guidance. It is more efficient and more comfortable, and patients aren't
presented with the anxiety of seeing wires in their bodies."
Dr. Keleher works with a multidisciplinary team including Physicist
Dan Pavord, Assistant VP of Oncology Services at Health Quest, and
Radiologist Russ Karp, MD, to ensure the seed localization procedures
are effective and safe.
"Radioactivity levels are so low there is minimal risk to the patient,"
Pavord says.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HEALTH QUEST BREAST CANCER SERVICES AT
WWW.HEALTHQUEST.ORG/CANCER.
PROSTATE CANCER
Physicians at Vassar Brothers Medical Center are
using an FDA-approved medication called Xofigo®
to treat patients with advanced prostate cancer
that has spread to the skeletal system.
PATIENTS
CHANGE
Health Quest Cancer Care professionals are easing
the discomfort of breast cancer surgery with seed
localization.
NEW MEDICATION PROVIDES HOPE FOR
Seeds of
