Novalis Creates Positive Outlook for Lung Cancer Patient

Frank Toups with his wife, Evelyn and children, Sierra and Frank.

Frank Toups thought he was in good health. The athletic 50-year-old Royal Palm Beach resident regularly lifts weights and rides his bike. On a business trip last November, however, he noticed that he was unusually clumsy. Then on Thanksgiving Day, he was driving to visit family when he developed a headache and lost motor ability in his left arm.

Doctors initially thought he was having a stroke. But a thorough evaluation revealed devastating news: Frank, who had been a smoker for more than 20 years, had metastatic lung cancer -- cancer that had spread to his shoulder, neck and brain.

SEARCHING FOR TREATMENT OPTIONS
Frank immediately began researching his condition and available treatments. "I was very lucky to have developed symptoms because this allowed doctors to diagnose my cancer at an earlier stage," Frank says. "I would have traveled anywhere to get the right treatment, but I didn't have to go far. The Regional Cancer Center at Wellington, which is less than a mile from my house, offered the advanced therapies I needed."

AN INNOVATIVE THERAPY
Doctors decided it was best to target the brain tumor first to improve Frank's daily quality of life. At the Regional Cancer Center at Wellington, Chief Radiation Oncologist and Medical Director Kishore Dass, MD, recommended Novalis^® Shaped Beam Surgery by BrainLAB, an innovative, noninvasive radiation therapy. Novalis offers such precision in treating tumors, both benign and malignant, that doctors can treat lesions in the most delicate areas while healthy surrounding tissue is preserved.

Kishore K. Dass, MD Board-Certified Radiation Oncologist and Medical Director For more information about Novalis or other advanced technologies, please call the Regional Cancer Center at 561-793-6500.

First, a planning MRI and CT scan were used to define the contours of Frank's tumor and nearby structures. The Novalis system's sophisticated software calculated the optimal shape, arrangement and intensity of radiation beams to match the exact parameters of the tumor. During the procedure, the treatment machine rotated around Frank, delivering radiation beams directly to the brain lesion from many different angles. The entire treatment time was less than 15 minutes.

"I didn't feel a thing," Frank says. "It was unbelievable."

A POSITIVE OUTLOOK
A subsequent MRI scan just two months later showed that the procedure destroyed the entire tumor. Frank is now undergoing chemotherapy to destroy the remaining lung cancer.

"The care that Dr. Dass and his staff provided is second to none," Frank says. "I am fortunate to have chosen the Regional Cancer Center for my treatment. I'm going to beat this [disease]."

Wellington Regional Medical Center, 10101 Forest Hill Blvd. Wellington, FL 33414 (561) 798-8500