Cancer CenterTreatment Options

Chemotherapy and infusion therapy are often part of a cancer patient?s comprehensive treatment plan. These therapies involve administering medication intravenously on an outpatient or inpatient basis. Physicians work closely with staff in the Cancer Center?s pharmacy to ensure that all medications are given safely and accurately.

Chemotherapy usually is given in cycles and is administered over a period of time doses can occur days or weeks apart. Physicians prescribe a single medication or a combination of drugs for a chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherapy may be a cancer patient?s only treatment, or it may be supplemented with other treatments, such as surgery and radiation therapy.

Infusion therapy can be used to treat dehydration, stabilize a patient’s blood counts, help control side effects such as nausea, and more.

Outpatient chemo and infusion therapy take place in a dedicated section of the new Reid Cancer Center. Patients can receive their therapy in a private room, semi-private room or open area. We offer TVs, reading material and space for family members and friends to visit with patients. Cancer navigators drop by periodically to check in with patients and provide education and support as needed.

Reid Cancer Center is currently involved with oncology clinical trials through the Dayton Clinical Oncology Program, which is a National Cancer Institute funded program.

You do not have to travel to Dayton to participate in a clinical trial — all of your care will be done right here at Reid.

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When Reid Cancer Center patients require a hospital stay, they are usually admitted to 5-East. There, a team of specially trained nurses works closely with doctors and other caregivers to ensure optimal care.

The length of stay on 5-East can range from a day or two to several months. Visitors are welcome, and can stay overnight if they wish. Each patient room has a pull-out bed, recliner and storage area.

5-East also has six beds for hospice care. Hospice provide medical services, emotional support and spiritual encouragement for patients and families. The hospice staff also helps family members manage the practical details and emotional challenges of caring for someone with a terminal illness.

Lymphedema is the abnormal accumulation of fluid, usually in the arms and legs. It is common among breast cancer patients; approximately 5% experience it in their first year of a cancer diagnosis and 30-40% during their lifetime.

Reid Hospital’s comprehensive Lymphedema Program can often help. Certified lymphedema specialists use massage and compression techniques to redirect built-up fluid so that the body can flush it out. Lymphedema management is available for inpatients and outpatients with a physician referral.

Sophisticated radiation therapy at Reid Cancer Center targets cancerous cells while sparing healthy tissues as much as possible. Radiation therapy utilizes external beam radiation and brachytherapy, which involves implanting a radiation source in the body. Radiation therapy may be a cancer patient’s only treatment, or it may be supplemented with other treatments, such as surgery and chemotherapy.

The radiation therapy team creates a personalized care plan for each patient and oversees the course of treatment, which usually takes place on an outpatient basis. The team includes a radiation oncologist, physicist and dosimitrist, as well as nurses, who focus on side effect management, patient education and providing emotional support.

Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation is an option for some breast cancer patients who are diagnosed in the early stages of the disease. APBI allows women to receive radiation therapy in five days rather than over the course of several weeks. Radiation is targeted so that minimal radiation is delivered to healthy tissue. APBI is recommended for some women who have undergone a lumpectomy (surgery to remove a cancerous tumor).

Surgery is used to help diagnose cancer, treat the disease and relieve its symptoms. It may be a cancer patient’s only treatment, or it may be supplemented with other treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy.

When surgery is needed to remove a cancerous tumor, Reid cancer patients have several options. Many opt for laparoscopic or traditional open surgery; others can benefit from the newest minimally invasive form of surgery available today: da Vinci® Surgical System. This system puts the surgeons’ hands at the controls of a state-of-the-art robotic platform, allowing them to perform even the most complex and delicate procedures through very small incisions with unmatched precision. It can be used to treat urological, gynecologic, kidney and lung cancers. Benefits include significantly less pain, less blood loss and scarring, a shorter recovery time and, in many cases, a better outcome.

Reid Cancer Center also offers reconstructive breast surgery through the Reid Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery.

Reid Cancer Center offers a comprehensive wound care program for patients with non-healing wounds and injuries to the skin or internal organs that can be a complication of certain cancer treatments.

Wound care at Reid focuses on treating the underlying disease process, not simply easing symptoms.

Certain cancer patients benefit from hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy. It works by surrounding the patient with 100% oxygen at higher than normal atmospheric pressure in multiple sessions that last 90 minutes to two hours. This increases the amount of oxygen in the blood, to aid in healing chronic wounds and injuries to internal organs that can be a complication of certain cancer treatments.