Treatments and Services
From chemotherapy to radiation treatment options and support services, DMC Cancer Care at DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital and DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital have the advanced technology and compassionate care you’re looking for.
Our centers’ chemotherapy options and radiation therapy modalities follow treatment guidelines established by national organizations using the latest research to establish best practices, including ACR, ASCO, NAPBC, NCCN and NCI.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, which grow and divide quickly.
Depending on your type of cancer and how advanced it is, chemotherapy can:
- Cure cancer - when chemotherapy destroys cancer cells to the point that your doctor can no longer detect them in your body and they will not grow back
- Control cancer - when chemotherapy keeps cancer from spreading, slows its growth, or destroys cancer cells that have spread to other parts of your body
- Ease cancer symptoms (also called palliative care) - when chemotherapy shrinks tumors that are causing pain or pressure
Comprehensive Breast Services
DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital and Sinai-Grace Hospital provide caring and effective preventative and diagnostic breast cancer services.
Digital Mammography
Using computers instead of film to record images, digital mammography allows your physician to better see your breast tissue and identify differences between normal and cancerous tissue. Digital diagnostic mammography results are often available immediately, and are reported to your doctor within 48 hours, reducing anxiety associated with waiting and helping to prevent delay in diagnosis.
Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA)
FNA is a simple and fast outpatient biopsy technique used by pathologists and radiologists to evaluate a variety of superficial, palpable and deep lumps and growths for cancer.
Infusion Services
Our adult infusion centers provide you the best possible care delivered by knowledgeable, experienced nurses who combine clinical excellence with individualized patient care. Our nurses are highly skilled in both peripheral and central venous access and certified in chemotherapy administration.
Medical oncologists and other physician specialists choose DMC for a variety of infusion services including:
- Chemotherapy administration
- Monoclonal antibodies (i.e., Herceptin, Rituxan, Remicade)
- Transfusion of blood products
- Antibiotic therapy
- Immune- globulin therapy
- Hydration/electrolyte replacement
Other services provided:
- Colony stimulating growth factors (i.e., neupogen, neulasta, procrit, aranesp)
- Therapeutic phlebotomy
- Venous access device maintenance
- Insertion of PICC and mid-lines
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy, is used to cure, stop, or slow the growth of cancer.
Radiation therapy can come from three sources:
- An external-beam outside the body can be aimed at cancer cells, like the True Beam™ linear accelerator
- Brachytherapy, or internal radiation, places radioactive material is inside the body near cancer cells
- SRS, or systemic radiation therapy, uses a radioactive substance given by mouth or into a vein that travels in the blood to tissues throughout the body
Radiation therapy can damage normal cells as well as cancer cells, which is why your radiation oncologist will carefully plan your treatment to minimize side effects. The type of radiation therapy prescribed by a radiation oncologist depends on many factors, including:
- The type of cancer.
- The size of the cancer.
- The cancer’s location in the body.
- How close the cancer is to normal tissues that are sensitive to radiation.
- How far into the body the radiation needs to travel
Advanced treatments include Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), which allows radiation amounts to be adjusted during treatment to spare close-by normal tissue and permits increased doses of radiation to the tumor. Multi-Leaf Collimator (MLC) allows metal "fingers", controlled by a computer, to filter beams of radiation in a precise pattern for the most effective results. In addition to our expert care, we offer the latest radiation therapy technology, including the True Beam™ linear accelerator.
At our Charach Cancer Treatment Center, located at DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital, we offer the advanced cancer treatment system: TrueBeam™ linear accelerator. This external-beam radiation technology pinpoints and treats small tumors with great accuracy and reduce side effects for normal tissue.
At both the Charach Cancer Treatment Center and Sinai-Grace Cancer Center, we offer the highly precise BrainLAB Stereotactic Radio Surgery (SRS), used to treat some types of brain cancer.
