John R. Marsh Cancer Center
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Located at
Suite 129
Robinwood Medical Center
11110 Medical Campus Rd.
Hagerstown, MD

Contact
1-800-221-1808
301-665-4650

“We stay current with the latest in medical research. We can offer excellent cancer care for 98 percent of our patients, and for those who have unusual cancers, we don't hesitate to refer them for treatment at academic medical centers in Baltimore or Washington, D.C.”
- Dr. Michael McCormack, Oncologist

Chemotherapy
“Chemotherapy” is probably one of the first words that comes to mind when we think about cancer treatment. Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment, meaning that it affects a person’s entire body rather than just the organs or tissues with cancer. This can be very important, since the drugs can reach cancerous cells that may have spread to other parts of the body.

The John R. Marsh Cancer Center has an infusion/chemotherapy room and seven private treatment rooms. Oncology certified nurses administer the chemotherapy medications prescribed by your doctor. The treatments are given in a spacious, comfortable atmosphere where patients can read, watch movies or television, sleep, or even visit with friends and family.

Chemotherapy may be used as the primary treatment for a patient, to control a tumor’s growth, to shrink a tumor before surgery, to kill cells that may be outside a tumor, or to alleviate pain and other symptoms. Individuals being treated with chemotherapy may experience side effects, but there are many ways that we can help make them more comfortable during treatment. We encourage our patients to ask questions and to talk with us freely so that we can work together to alleviate any discomforts they are experiencing.

Radiation
The treatments and technologies available to individuals with cancer are continually changing and improving. Radiation treatments offer the benefit of being able to attack cancerous cells aggressively while limiting potential damage to a patient’s healthy tissue. In recent years, medical advancements have given doctors the ability to offer radiation treatments with much more precision. The Marsh Center’s radiation oncologists administer treatments using state-of-the-art equipment on which all of our staff are licensed and specially trained.

CT-capable simulator
This is where patients who will receive radiation therapy begin. The Center’s new CT scanner, the GE LightSpeed RT, produces a series of thin image “slices” that the physician uses to create a three-dimension view of the patient’s organs. This is called a “simulation.” The scanner offers a number of benefits in addition to its imaging capabilities, the most important of which is that it permits our radiation oncologists to deliver high doses of radiation to cancerous areas without increasing side effects or damage to the patient’s healthy tissues. It also features an extra-large opening that allows us to position patients to get the best view of their tumors.

Eclipse Treatment Planning Center
Once patients have been scanned, or “simulated,” the images are sent to the Eclipse Treatment Planning Center. This software system allows our oncologists to determine the best treatment plan for each patient, and our dosimetrists and physicists to plan the details of how to best administer the treatment. Eclipse is seamlessly integrated into the Center’s other systems and helps us to offer our patients the most advanced treatments possible.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
In intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), computer-controlled linear accelerators deliver specific amounts of radiation to a tumor without affecting the surrounding tissues. Individuals with malignant tumors of the prostate, head, neck, or breast are the usual candidates for IMRT, although it may also be used to treat certain patients with cancers of the lung, liver, or lymph nodes. While the patient lies on a table, a linear accelerator machine sends radiation into the tumor. The dosage can vary by shape, depth, and intensity. The John R. Marsh Cancer Center uses the Varian 2100 EX linear accelerator, which targets radiation very precisely, delivering treatment in the exact shape of the tumor.

We’re also able to deliver radiation internally. We are particularly excited about two new options for our patients: prostate seed implants and mammosite therapy.

Prostate Seed Implant
The prostate seed implant is an alternative to surgery for the treatment of prostate cancer. Tiny pellets containing radioactive medication are permanently implanted directly in the center of cancerous tissue, where they give off low-level radiation for approximately one year.

Mammosite® RTS
The John R. Marsh Cancer Center now offers MammoSite® radiation therapy for breast cancer treatment. A faster, more convenient, and more comfortable treatment option than traditional radiation therapy, Mammosite® radiation therapy delivers partial breast radiation treatment in up to just 5 days.

With MammoSite® radiation therapy, radiation is delivered from inside the breast. After removing a tumor from the breast, the doctor places a small balloon catheter into the space where the tumor had been. The catheter holds a radioactive seed that delivers radiation directly where cancer would be most likely to recur. Because the radiation dose is limited to these vulnerable tissues within the breast, side effects are minimized.

Best of all, patients do not need to be hospitalized for treatment, so they receive treatment in less time, right here at home.

Treatment with MammoSite® Radiation Therapy System (RTS) is a two-stage process: balloon placement and radiation delivery.

MammoSite® Balloon Placement
After the surgeon removes your tumor, an uninflated MammoSite® balloon is gently placed inside the tumor cavity through a small incision. A portion of the catheter will remain outside of your breast (Figure 1). The MammoSite® balloon can be placed either during your lumpectomy surgery or up to 10 weeks after surgery in a separate procedure.

Once in place, the balloon is inflated with fluid to fit snugly into the tumor cavity. The balloon remains inflated for the entire time you are receiving radiation therapy (Figure 2).

After the MammoSite® balloon is placed, the breast is bandaged and you may go home.

MammoSite® Radiation Therapy
Next you will visit a radiation oncologist - a specialist in treating cancer with radiation - who will take images of the MammoSite® device in your breast and determine the amount of radiation your breast will need to receive. Once your treatment prescription is established you may begin radiation therapy.

During radiation therapy, you will visit the radiation oncology office twice a day. The portion of the MammoSite® RTS catheter remaining outside of your breast will be connected to a computer-controlled machine.

A tiny radioactive source (seed) will then travel from the machine, through the catheter, and into the inflated balloon inside your breast. The source will remain in the balloon for about 10 minutes while it delivers radiation to your breast (Figure 3). Once you have received the prescribed dose of radiation, the source is retracted back into the machine. No radiation remains in your body between treatments or after the final treatment is over.

Usually on the same day as your last radiation session, the MammoSite® RTS balloon will be deflated and easily removed (Figure 4).

	Figure 1 After tumor removal surgery, an uninflated Mammosite® balloon is placed inside the tumor resection cavity.		Figure 3 A radioactive source attached to a wire delivers a precise dose of radiation.
	Figure 2 Once in place, the balloon is inflated with a saline solution through the applicator.		Figure 4 After radiation treatment, the balloon is deflated and easily removed.