13 / 32
ARCHBOLD.ORG •
SPRING 2015
13
Q
How has the treatment changed
the way Archbold treats patients
with lung cancer?
Dr. Johnson:
The mesh has added
another potentially curative treatment
to our toolbox for treating stage I lung
cancers.
Dr. Hall:
The robotic-assisted mesh
brachytherapy allows us to offer poten-
tially curative treatment to patients who
otherwise would have been inoperable.
We’re able to take out less lung, which
is important because most of these
patients have very little lung left because
of emphysema and COPD.
Q
What have the results been for
patients treated this way over the
last three years?
Dr. Johnson:
To my knowledge, at
this point, there have been no recur-
rences in the lung cancer patients we’ve
treated with robotic-assisted cesium mesh
brachytherapy. We have had no cesium
mesh position changes or misadministra-
tions, and I do not know of any significant
complications.
Dr. Hall:
Nationally, recurrence rates
for removing the tumor and not implant-
ing the mesh brachytherapy are around
23 percent. Recurrence rates for those
patients that have the cesium component
is around 3 percent. This treatment has
revolutionized the way we treat patients
with lung cancer and severe lung disease.
Q
Archbold was the first hospital in
Georgia and second worldwide
to perform this treatment. What does it
say about Archbold to offer this type of
cutting-edge treatment?
Dr. Johnson:
Archbold has always
had an excellent reputation as a tech-
nology leader in the region since the
hospital was founded. To my knowledge,
we are still the only hospital in Georgia
doing this procedure, which requires a
specially trained robotics surgeon willing
to engage with this new procedure to
get a program like this started, as well as
a radiation oncologist available to assist.
The time commitment is very great.
It also takes an administration willing
to purchase a robotic surgical unit.
Archbold saw the value in offering this
treatment for our patients. This is one
example of how Archbold and our
medical staff are dedicated to providing
our patients the best care and most
advanced treatment options available.
Dr. Hall:
We’re still the only hospital in
our region offering this treatment. It’s really
a testament to the sophistication of our
hospital and the commitment and collab-
oration of our medical staff that we’re able
to offer this technology for our patients.
Q
Do patients with lung cancer need
a referral to be considered for this
treatment?
Dr. Johnson:
No referral is
needed. Any patient who wishes to
be considered can contact Dr. Hall;
Dr. Saunders, who is a radiation oncolo-
gist at the Singletary Oncology Center; or
me for an appointment to see if they’re a
reasonable candidate for the procedure.
Q
Do you anticipate cesium mesh
being used to treat any other types
of cancer in the future?
Dr. Johnson:
Virtually any tumor-
bearing site with close or positive margins
of resection could be treated this way, es-
pecially if external postoperative radiation
could injure an important or vital organ.
Dr. Hall:
We’ve also used this treatment
for colon and cervical cancer. As long as
we’re able to remove the tumor and place
the mesh in the compromised spot to
sterilize the area at a very close margin,
we could really treat many sites this way
to prevent local recurrence of cancer.
Steven Johnson, MD
Radiation oncologist
Archbold Memorial Hospital
Edward Hall, MD
General and thoracic surgeon
Archbold Memorial Hospital
IN 2011,
physicians at Archbold Memorial Hospital were recognized as the
first in the state and second worldwide to revolutionize surgical treatment
for lung cancer using cesium mesh brachytherapy and the da Vinci Surgical
System.
Archbold general and thoracic surgeon Edward Hall, MD, and radiation
oncologist Steven Johnson, MD, of Archbold’s Lewis Hall Singletary Oncology
Center, performed Georgia’s first implant of cesium 131 mesh brachytherapy in
an early-stage lung cancer patient, using da Vinci. Four years later, we checked
in to see their progress.