Midwestern Regional among first to use GPS for the Body

Global positioning systems have become common in cars. Now GPS is being used in locating and targeting tumors in cancer treatment as well.

Midwestern Regional Medical Center in Zion, part of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, has become the first in the Midwest to offer the Calypso 4D Location System or GPS for the Body for treating prostate cancer.

The use has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, said the hospital, which began to offer the technology in January.

The Calypso system makes it possible to deliver focused doses of radiation with greater accuracy, according to Dr. Bernard Eden, director of radiation oncology at the hospital.

"The primary goal of all radiation therapy is to target tumors and spare surrounding healthy tissue and organs at all cost," he said.

Tumors have a tendency to move due to normal body activity and organ motion. The Calypso system can track them down and pinpoint their exact locations.

"We offer cancer patients the most advanced and accurate radiation technology available so we can attack the disease as aggressively as possible while doing everything we can to minimize side effects," Eden said.

One of the beneficiaries of the new treatment has been Gary Eskelson, 56, former NASA software programmer. A prostate cancer patient, he recently traveled to the Zion hospital from Houston, Tex., to seek treatment on the advice of his doctor.

"I made my decision based on all available information at this time and after speaking with countless men who have been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer," said Eskelson who came as an outpatient.

"I was inspired by their stories and experience and chose CTCA because it was the best option for me," he added.

In a procedure similar to a biopsy at the hospital, three transponders, each the size of a grain of rice, were implanted in his prostate. During the radiation treatment, the transponders communicated with the Calypso system using safe, radio frequency waves. The system was able to show exactly where the tumor was at all times during the treatment.

"I'm grateful to have found CTCA," Eskelson said.

"I'm a guy who's used to being involved with literally space-age technology. To me, from a treatment and technology perspective, CTCA delivers a higher standard of care," he added.

According to the American Cancer Society, each year about 218,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer.