New, improved treatments being offered at Arizona Center for Cancer Care

PHOENIX - Being diagnosed with cancer can be overwhelming, but the Arizona Center for Cancer Care is a place that many in the Valley turn to.

Now the central Phoenix clinic offers two new treatments.

At the Arizona Center for Cancer Care, Dr. Justin Famoso says that patients can expect a team approach to their care.

"We pretty much treat every aspect of cancer and approach it from every different specialty to create a multidisciplinary care team," Dr. Famoso said.

Now, if a patient is treated at the Deer Valley location, they have access to this new machine.

"It’s called a Halcyon. It’s a new platform for radiation treatment delivery," Dr. Famoso said. "It’s faster, more accurate, and from a patient perspective, easier to tolerate than previous radiation treatment machines."

Dr. Famoso says the center treats about 65 patients a day.

"You’re in here for three minutes, just enough to hear a song on the overhead radio and then you’re out of here," Dr. Famoso said.

Dr. Anushka Patel says, "Anything that makes the patient comfortable, I think that’s the most important thing."

New drugs are also available, like Pluvicto.

"We recently opened a radioligand program at this center, and what a radioligand is, is a new cancer drug," Dr. Famoso said. "Which is minimally radioactive, and it's able to stick to cancer cells, deliver that radiation from the inside out, so it’s a targeted radiation treatment internally. An IV infusion."

Dr. Famoso says the advances in care help all patients.

"We’re seeing a trend towards fewer doses of radiation with less side effects because of new technology," Dr. Famoso said.

The Arizona Center for Cancer Care has eight total radiation and oncology clinics around the Valley.