Cancer survivor Jarod Finlay will share his experiences as the first patient to undergo an investigational procedure - stereotactic body radiation therapy - during a conference of world experts on the procedure this Friday and Saturday at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Finlay, who had metastatic tumors in his lungs, received the groundbreaking therapy more than seven years ago when his doctors treated his lung tumors using technology originally designed to destroy brain tumors. This technique and scientists' research to support its expanded use will be discussed by more than 100 experts attending the Scientific Conference on Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy. Finlay will deliver the opening address by describing his care and perspective.
He was 25 when doctors discovered that his previously treated head and neck cancer had spread to his lungs. Traditional radiation therapy is an effective treatment for many tumors, but the side effects include scarring around the tumor and the destruction of healthy tissue along with the cancer cells. In addition, sometimes very small tumors are impossible to reach using conventional technology.
Doctors at the Rochester's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center treated his five lung tumors with shaped-beam stereotactic body radiation therapy in 2000. The Wilmot team had previously used the Novalis technology, which delivers high-dose radiation with pinpoint precision, to treat brain tumors.
Paul Okunieff, M.D., a radiation therapy expert, was confident the technology could be expanded to treat other delicate organs - such as the liver and lungs - that other doctors were reluctant to expose to therapeutic radiation. His initiative has led to a much-needed treatment option for more than 600 patients at the Wilmot Cancer Center who have been treated to date when no other treatments were available.