Cancer Treatments
When you choose Owensboro Health for cancer treatment, you stay close to home while benefiting from nearly all the same options and technology you’d find at an academic medical center. You’ll work with our caring cancer specialists to develop a treatment plan tailored to your condition, preferences and overall health.
Cancers We Treat
Find treatment at Owensboro Health for almost any type of adult cancer, including:
- Bladder Cancer
- Blood Cancers, such as Leukemia and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
- Bone Cancer
- Brain Cancer
- Breast Cancer
- Colorectal Cancer
- Esophageal Cancer
- Gallbladder Cancer
- Gastrointestinal Cancer
- Gynecologic Cancer
- Head and Neck Cancer
- Kidney Cancer, including Renal Cell Carcinoma
- Liver Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Lymphoma
- Multiple Myeloma
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
- Skin Cancer
- Testicular Cancer
- Thyroid Cancer
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy kills cancer cells by using high-energy waves that you can’t feel. Owensboro Health Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center is accredited in radiation oncology by the American College of Radiology, which means you’ll benefit from:
- A dynamic team of highly trained radiation oncologists, medical physicists and radiation therapists who oversee your treatment
- Strict measures to keep you safe
- Sophisticated equipment that helps improve your outcome
Types of Radiotherapy
Your doctor at Owensboro Health will recommend the type of radiation therapy that’s best for your condition.
External Radiation
External radiation uses a machine to send X-rays from outside your body into the tumor. Types include:
- Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), or stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) – Uses tightly focused radiation beams instead of surgery to eliminate tumors
Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) – Conforms to a tumor’s shape to precisely treat it and sometimes employs RapidArc® technology, which reduces treatment time to just a few minutes- Your care team members will minimize your healthy tissue’s exposure to radiation, sometimes by:
- Using image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), in which images of your tumor are taken during each treatment to ensure the radiation beam targets exactly the right place
- Relying on respiratory gating, which adjusts the radiation beam for tumors that move as you breathe
Internal Radiation (Brachytherapy)
Internal Radiation, or Brachytherapy,
Systemic Radiation
At Owensboro Health, you may receive Systemic Radiation—injections of radioactive substances—to treat Lymphoma or Prostate Cancer. Injections of certain radioactive medications also can relieve pain due to cancer that has spread to your bones.
Cancer Medications
Your cancer treatment may be delivered into your blood vessels or through a pill in the form of medications such as:
- Biotherapy, or Immunotherapy – Helps your immune system attack cancer
- Chemotherapy – Destroys cells that grow quickly, especially tumors
- Hormone Therapy – Prevents certain types of tumors from getting the hormones they need to survive
Some medications are targeted therapies, which act only on cancerous cells and thus minimize side effects.
Cancer Surgery
A surgeon may remove tissue or an organ from your body to diagnose cancer, see where the disease has spread or eliminate tumors. Depending on your condition, your surgeon at Owensboro Health may use robot-assisted surgery or another minimally invasive technique that reduces pain, scarring and recovery time.
Following cancer treatment, especially mastectomy, a cosmetic and reconstructive surgeon can help restore your appearance.
Clinical Trials & Research
To evaluate how well new cancer treatments work, researchers use clinical trials. Ask your doctor whether you may qualify for a promising experimental therapy in a clinical research study.