UNM Cancer Center to take whole-body approach
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Two new high-tech machines, comprehensive approach make it easier on patients
8/28/2009 - 8/22/09
Dr. Robert Hromas, oncology physician-in-chief at The University of New Mexico Hospital, couldn't be happier that the UNM Cancer Center will finally open its doors to the Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Facility in Albuquerque on Monday.The $90 million project has been in the works for almost 10 years and will aim to be a one-stop treatment center for New Mexico cancer patients.
"The new, comprehensive cancer-treatment center will bring the ability to have doctors from many types of specialties dealing with one specific type of cancer," Hromas said in a recent phone interview. "For example with breast cancer, treatment involves a surgeon to remove the breast cancer, a medical oncologist to give the chemotherapy and a radiation therapist to give the radiation. ... We'll be able to have all these doctors in one place as opposed to scattered about in different buildings."
Hromas said the center features two high-tech machines that will make treatment somewhat more tolerable for the patient and easier for the doctor, including the cyclotron, which Hromas said uses radio isotopes to image cancer. Also, the state's first TomoTherapy machine, which provides radiation therapy directed toward a specific tumor mass, will be housed in the new center. Hromas said this machine will limit the excess radiation that a patient is exposed to because it more accurately targets a tumor.
"We're going to have state-of-the-art equipment that nobody else in the state of New Mexico has," Hromas said.
In addition to providing more well-rounded medical treatment, the center features healing gardens, reflective pools and meditation chapels, Hromas said.
"Taking care of cancer patients is much more than taking care of their physical bodies," Hromas said. "Cancer patients have deep spiritual and emotional needs, so we hope that this cancer center can treat patients as a whole person."
According to a news release from the UNM Cancer Center, the center served more than 7,600 patients, which is half of adults and most children diagnosed with the disease within the state. This new treatment facility has enough space to serve more than 200,000 patients each year.
A formal dedication of the new facility is planned for summer 2010.
"Our new state-of-the-art facility is a welcoming and gracious healing space where the whole patient, not just their cancer, can be attended to," said Dr. Cheryl Willman, director and CEO of the UNM Cancer Center, in a news release. "We're incredibly anxious to provide this world-class facility to all New Mexicans, and we are thrilled to be opening our doors."
Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3084 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.
