SCCA launches radiation oncology center at Northwest Hospital

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance recently opened a new radiation oncology center at Northwest Hospital & Medical Center in hospital’s north Seattle medical office building.

The services are for adult patients who need radiation therapy as part of their cancer treatment plan. The center features a new linear accelerator, a digital radiation therapy treatment system with integrated 3-D imaging, which enables clinicians to see a tumor at the very moment of treatment. This results in more accurate targeting of radiation to treat the cancer, but spares more healthy tissue and reduces side effects. The facility also has a wide bore CT scanner to assist in radiation therapy planning.

“Offering radiation oncology services at Northwest Hospital is a natural fit for SCCA,” said Norm Hubbard, SCCA executive vice president. “The hospital also is our partner in bringing the Pacific Northwest’s first proton therapy center, which is scheduled to open on the Northwest campus in 2013.”

Dr. Edward Kim, medical director of SCCA Radiation Oncology at Northwest Hospital and a University of Washington assistant professor of radiation oncology, directs the new center.

“Radiation therapy typically requires daily treatments over several weeks. The radiation oncology clinic at Northwest Hospital will offer patients the ability to receive leading-edge radiotherapy close to home,” he said.

Patients also will have access to the full spectrum of radiotherapy services offered by SCCA and UW, including neutron therapy, high-dose-rate brachytherapy and Gamma Knife radiosurgery. Northwest Hospital is affiliated with SCCA partner UW Medicine.