Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon has a shiny new piece of equipment, the first of its kind in Saskatchewan.
It's a PET/CT (positron emission topography - computed topography) scanner, used to diagnose and monitor the effectiveness of treatments for cancer patients. The provincial government ($4 million) and the Saskatoon Health Region ($2 million) combined to pay for the expensive machine, with the province pledging up to $3.7 million in annual funding.
PotashCorp donated an additional $1 million.
The first scans were done in May, though the official opening was held on June 20. The Saskatoon Health Region expects up to 1,900 patients to use the service every year. Previously, some of those people would have traveled out of province to access a PET/CT scanner. The most recent statistics from the Ministry of Health show that 350 residents were sent out of the province for a scan in 2009-10. That number might not represent the entire need, however, as some patients would have stayed in Saskatchewan for more accessible but perhaps less effective treatments, like an MRI.
"This was certainly something we needed in the province to keep people close to home and not having to travel to Winnipeg or Edmonton," said Randy Weekes, minister of Rural and Remote Health. "Some patients were even traveling as far as Vancouver."
While the costs of an out-of-province PET/CT scan are covered, additional expenses like flights, accommodations and food are not, putting many patients in a difficult position.
With a scanner in Saskatoon, those concerns are lessened, if not completely eliminated.
A PET/CT scanner is the most effective diagnostic tool because it is essentially two machines in one; the PET component can determine whether cancer cells are growing, while the CT scan shows structures like bones and muscles.
"A CT provides great anatomic pictures, like the presence of a mass," said Dr. Paul Babyn, head of medical imaging at the University of Saskatchewan, "but it can't tell us whether that mass is growing or not, reproducing or not."
A PET scan can answer those critical questions by, for example, identifying areas of active metabolism, where a tumor may be growing. Combined, the two images offer a comprehensive look into how a particular cancer is affecting the body.
Ivan Buehler is a Humboldt resident who has first-hand experience with the world of cancer. Buehler's treatments for colorectal cancer ended in December; he never needed a PET/CT scan, but knows many people who the treatment will help.
"Certainly lots of patients would benefit from a PET scan," Buehler said. "And the possibility to get one is much greater because it's here and not in Edmonton or Calgary."
Eliminating those long trips also reduces the possibility of mistakes resulting from miscommunication. Buehler knows someone who was scheduled for a full-body scan in Edmonton; unfortunately that full-body scan didn't include his head, where the cancer was located. He's still struggling, but the problem could have been detected earlier if the proper scan was available in Saskatchewan.
In addition to the cost of the scanner itself, the medical isotopes needed to produce the images are often expensive and fragile. Currently the university ships its isotopes from Hamilton, a costly and inconvenient process.
That problem will soon be a thing of the past. A cyclotron at the university is scheduled to be in place by 2015 and producing isotopes by the following year. Having a homegrown source will reduce costs, enhance services and could place the university at the forefront of medical research into radiopharmaceuticals, the drugs used in such diagnostics.
"We need production on site because over the next few years radiopharmaceuticals with a half-life of only a few minutes will be available and it won't be possible to ship them long distances," said Dr. Brian Witt, director of medical imaging for the Saskatoon Health Region.
A half-life is the amount of time it would take for a radiopharmaceutical to decay and become unusable; in other words, a half-life of only a few minutes means the drug must be produced and used almost immediately. By comparison, the most commonly used radiopharmaceutical at the university today has a half-life of about 110 minutes.
Beyond the research possibilities and medical jargon, though, is a simple truth: this new scanner will make the lives of cancer patients in Saskatchewan a little easier.
"This is a provincial resource and we're excited to be able to offer it to the people of Saskatchewan," Witt said.
Buehler, who has seen the cancer-treatment system up close and personal, thinks the PET/CT scanner is nothing but good news.
"My impression is that the medical system here is good for cancer," he said. "This can only help."
