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The Cortlandt Manor hospital received a $150,000 grant Thursday morning from State Sen. Greg Ball (R-Patterson) that will help pay for equipment that will allow the Ashikari Breast Center to perform intra-operative radiation on women undergoing breast cancer surgery. The hospital chose to use the grant money and invest an additional $413,000 to buy the intra-operative radiation equipment
"We all know that when someone is battling breast cancer it's tough enough tragedy to deal with without having to travel a great distance for treatment," Ball said. "You can get world class treatment right here in the Hudson Valley, close to home and family and the community that you love."
The Ashikari Breast Center came to Hudson Valley Hospital Center in July of 2011, and their offices are located in the Hospital’s new Cheryl R. Lindenbaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Comprehensive is a key word in cancer care at the hospital, explained Anne Campbell Maxwell, the director of oncology services.
"In oncology for the past 20 years we've worked hard to recognize that patients that have a diagnosis of cancer have more than a physical problem - there are implications for their work, their family and their children."
Intra-operative radiation allows some breast cancer patients undergoing breast preservation surgery to receive a dose of radiation while asleep during surgery, instead of six-1/2 weeks of radiation after surgery. In higher risk patients, it is used to boost the surgical cavity with radiation to reduce the post-op radiation to only five weeks.
The new procedure will be available to patients at the hospital starting the second week of November.
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