BMC Cancer Technology

The Cancer Institute of the Berkshires at BMC provides state-of-the-art anti-cancer therapy for a wide variety of tumors. In most cases, patients are referred to BMC by their primary care physicians for diagnostic services and tumor staging. Depending on the diagnosis, the patient may be referred to a surgical or medical oncologist, or to Berkshire Hematology & Oncology for the administration of radiation and chemotherapy.

“The technology at the Cancer Institute of the Berkshires is as advanced as the technology available at most cancer centers in Boston and other large cities,” said Wade Gebara, MD, director of the Cancer Institute and chairman of the BMC Division of Radiation Oncology. “Radiation for cancer treatment is split into two categories: teletherapy and brachytherapy. At BMC, we offer both.”

Tele-therapy involves the administration of radiation from an external source, such as a linear accelerator, which aims radiation at the specific area of the body where cancer is diagnosed. BMC's Cancer Institute has two linear accelerators capable of providing the most advanced radiation therapy services for patients in the region, and is generally used for a wide variety of cancers including lung, breast and prostate cancer.

 Brachytherapy is an internal form of radiation in which the radiation source is a solid in the form of seeds, ribbons or capsules that are placed inside the body near cancer cells. At BMC, brachytherapy is used to treat some forms of prostate cancer, with radioactive seeds implanted in the prostate gland. Brachytherapy is also used at BMC to treat certain gynecological malignancies.

The Cancer Institute at BMC is also equipped with a CT Scan Simulator, which enables the physicians to obtain three-dimensional reconstructions of a patient's anatomy to calculate the most precise administration of radiation.