Treatment & Technology

Lakeridge Health is investing in new treatments, technologies and resources to provide our cancer patients with personalized treatment options.

Treatment Unique to Every Patient

More than half of all patients receive radiation therapy as part of their cancer treatment. At Lakeridge Health, that amounts to 40,000-plus radiation treatments a year involving six linear accelerators, the state-of-the-art machines that deliver targeted, high energy X-rays to shrink the tumour. Radiation can also be used in combination with other treatments like surgery or to alleviate the symptoms caused by advanced stage cancer.

New Linear Accelerator to Treat 700 Patients a Year

Our Cancer Campaign supported the capital renovations needed to bring in a new Linear Accelerator. Replacing this equipment on a regular basis is critical to ensuring the best and most up-to-date treatment is available to our patients. The program estimates the new machine will provide 7,800 treatments a year!

Radiation therapy is just one of thousands of different types of cancer treatments, all of which are constantly evolving and improving. Lakeridge Health’s multidisciplinary team of radiation and medical oncologists, nurses, physicists, social workers and dietitians work together to develop personalized treatment plans unique to each patient’s genetics, biology, lifestyle, support system and cultural needs.

For some 80 to 90 patients a day, the treatment plan includes chemotherapy or immunotherapy administered in the hospital’s systemic therapy clinic. Patients receive individualized injectable doses prepared in the Cancer Centre’s in-house pharmacy using a Robotic Intravenous Automation system — one of just five in Canada. For those with blood cancers like leukemia, chemotherapy can even occur at home using a wearable pump. If more aggressive treatment is required, Lakeridge Health is now equipped to support patients recovering from stem cell replacement therapy, so they don’t have the burden of long-distance care.

In cases where cancer continues to progress, palliative care can help alleviate symptoms and suffering. Technology such as portable ultrasound machines can even make it possible for palliative care doctors to care for complex patients at home.

Personalized cancer care is only possible when our expert team has access to the full range of advanced treatments, technologies and resources to stop cancer in its tracks, alleviate symptoms of the disease and improve quality of life. Through Our Cancer Campaign, we will purchase new equipment, such as wearable chemotherapy pumps and portable ultrasound machines, while also investing in cultural supports for diverse patient groups and resources to help patients cope with the long-term physical, emotional and spiritual challenges of life after cancer.

Your gift to this campaign priority will positively impact the cancer journey for thousands of Lakeridge Health patients and their families each year.

Care Without the Commute

In 2018, Lakeridge Health opened the Gynecology Oncology Centre (GOC), one of only three such centres in Ontario providing specialized radiation, chemotherapy and surgical treatments for women. Prior to the GOC, women had to travel to Kingston or Toronto for surgery to treat a number of cancers, including cervical, ovarian, vulvar, vaginal and uterine.

The centre has one dedicated operating room at Lakeridge Health Oshawa with specialized, minimally invasive equipment for performing surgeries for women. It’s here that patients can undergo procedures, such as a biopsy and surgery, with family nearby.

Many families are grateful to know there is a top cancer centre in or close to their community. But so much of what is involved in cancer care requires continually upgrading new technology. Having the latest innovations on hand means the world to our experts when it comes to caring for their patients.

To ensure the very best equipment and resources are available to our oncology teams, Our Cancer Campaign will fund Smart IV Pumps that administer intravenous cancer medicine like chemotherapy, critical equipment that supports women’s health and the Gynecology Oncology program, and state-of-the-art upgrades to treatment areas in the R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre.

“From the very first day of my treatment, Lorraine and the other technicians became like my second family. It made such a difference having this team looking out for me.”

— Mike is grateful for staff members like Lorraine and Lakeridge Health donors who helped purchase the state-of-the-art equipment used to treat his prostate cancer