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Cancer Treatment Center
Tuomey’s Cancer Treatment Center marries aggressive technology and clinical expertise with supportive, personalized care, right at home in Sumter. Designed around a vital tenant – our patients’ comfort – the center provides a soothing environment for ongoing treatment. Through its convenient location across the street from Tuomey Regional Medical Center, it ensures patients receive the best of cancer care without traveling great distances.
The Cancer Treatment Center offers the most advanced radiation therapy technology available. The use of radiation for diagnostic and treatment purposes was a revolutionary step in the evolution of medicine, and Tuomey uses it to treat many types of cancer. For others, it is used in conjunction with surgery and/or chemotherapy. Our two linear accelerators, paired with CT-based treatment planning, allow radiation oncologists to offer intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). That’s an advancement few hospitals in the state provide, but one Tuomey knows is vital to cutting-edge cancer care. Read more about radiation therapy and Tuomey’s state-of-the-art cancer treatment equipment.
Radiation therapy works by injuring the genetic material (DNA) in the nucleus of a cell. This, in turn, either destroys the cell or hinders its ability to function normally. This type of therapy is ideal for those cancers where it is necessary to destroy the cancer cells, but allow the adjacent, normal cells to repair themselves from the injury. There is no heat, light or sound associated with radiation therapy. It does not cause pain or any other sensation, and the radiation does not make the body radioactive. Typically, treatments are given four or five times weekly for a period of several weeks.
A linear accelerator delivers a high-powered beam of X-rays to the tumor site. Most of the X-ray energy goes directly to the tumor, with only a slight amount irradiating other tissues in the path of the beam. In addition, little radiation affects the skin's surface. Due to radiation’s characteristics, it is critical to deliver the maximum amount of radiation to the cancerous cells, while minimizing the damage caused to surrounding healthy tissue.
Today's linear accelerators produce an extremely sharp beam; their precision is similar to that necessary in surgical procedures. Tuomey's Varian accelerators employ an array of 120 built-in blocking "leaves" to focus the X-ray beam. These leaves allow Tuomey’s radiation team to create a three-dimensional template for delivering a precise amount of radiation to a specific location, reducing damage to surrounding tissues.
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