SUDBURY, ON – A new cancer treatment procedure is being offered at Health Sciences North. Patients received the first round of Radiofrequency Ablation, a procedure using electron probes to destroy cancer cells. This is now available to patients for the first time in Northeastern Ontario. Previously patients had to travel to Toronto or Barrie for this procedure.
“It’s a privilege to bring this type of procedure to HSN and help patients living in Northern Ontario”, says Dr. Dhanoa. “I am looking forward to following up with patients on their success with the treatment”.
Dr. Deljit Dhanoa is an interventionalist radiologist, specialized in image-guided procedures such as Radio frequency Ablation. He was recruited a year ago and helped implement this procedure at HSN. The procedure takes twelve minutes to complete and uses imaging guidance with electricity, which heats up the tumour, killing the cells.
“HSN is continuing to bring new procedures to Northeastern Ontario. With the support of Cancer Care Ontario, we were able to bring this program and type of procedure to our patients”, says Mark Hartman, Vice President of Cancer and Clinical Support.
Normally patients would need to head to southern Ontario for such a procedure.The first patient to receive the procedure was happy to have the treatment close to home.
“Having the procedure done here spared me the time, expense and stress of going to Southern Ontario. I’m 78 years old and my husband Richard is 80, so you can imagine how challenging that would have been for us. It would have been at least a two-day event. I was in and out of HSN the same day!”, says Mary England, the first patient to receive the treatment in Sudbury.
There are many advantages to the Radiofrequency Ablation procedure. This is an out-patient same day procedure done in the HSN CT suite for patients with kidney, liver and lung cancers with smaller tumours who are referred by their surgeon or oncologist. Patients typically recover much quicker than following a surgical procedure. HSN’s Medical Imaging Program is providing this treatment option for patients right across Northeastern Ontario.