CCC Venture with Vantage Creates Leading Cancer Center
BBN - Vol. 27 No. 38 (Sept. 21, 2009) - by Ken Datzman

BBN Special Focus - Cont'd from page 1: business in an effort to further his quest to make Cancer Care Centers of Brevard a “best–in–class” facility. He says the partnership is thriving today and has better positioned the center to serve patients. “We are looking to the future,” said Dr. Charles, who performed his residency in radiation oncology at Memorial Sloan– Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and followed up with a fellowship at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC.

“The partnership has given us the lift we needed to really create a comprehensive cancer program in the local market. Today, patients do not need to travel outside the region for their cancer treatments,” he said. New technology at the facility includes a stationary PET/CT scanner. Positron–emission tomography and computed tomography can help diagnose cancers within
the body.Ed Mercado, vice president of corporate development for Vantage Oncology Inc., says Dr. Charles is “seeing his
dream come to fruition.”

“Under the leadership of Dr. Charles, in collaboration with Vantage Oncology, Cancer Care Centers of Brevard has seen tremendous growth, in the sense of having physicians come in and perform medical oncology in the main facility. So this concept of a comprehensive facility, envisioned by Dr. Charles, is going to be a tremendous benefit to the community,” Mercado said.
Cancer Care Centers of Brevard has its flagship facility in Melbourne, with offices in Titusville, Merritt Island, and Sebastian. The Merritt Island center is undergoing a renovation and expansion, said Dr. Charles, who is a cancer survivor himself.

Founded in 2002, Vantage acquires, joint–ventures, develops, and operates oncology centers of excellence around the nation. The company was created in response to the growing need among cancer patients, hospitals, and physicians for accessible and advanced radiation–treatment therapies, Mercado said. (about Vantage Oncology)

“Today, we operate 36 cancer centers in 12 states. We presently have six centers in Central Florida. Our strongest growth is coming from the Southeastern United States. Cancer Care Centers of Brevard is our first partnership in this area,” he said.
His company encourages joint–venture ownership opportunities that empower physicians to maintain control of their practices while leveraging the strength of Vantage Oncology’s network. These networks “effectively leverage” clinical and operational resources, physics capabilities, and managed–care contracting efforts, for instance.

“Typically, in a partnership arrangement, Vantage comes in and helps with the operational and administrative functions of the practice,” said Mercado, whose office is in Tampa. “And we felt that the partnership with Dr. Charles was very important and it was meant to be. He and his staff have an outstanding reputation in the community. The facility has the latest technology. So we are here to provide capital, operational infrastructure, and help support the growth, which has been very impressive recently,” he said.
Mercado’s experience includes having served as vice chair for administration and finance for the Department of Radiation Oncology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. He is a former managing partner of a radiation– oncology group practice in Clearwater.
Mercado is a graduate of Florida Southern College, with an M.B.A. degree, and is a Certified Medical Practice Executive through the American College of Medical Practice Executives. Advances in the treatment and prevention of cancer offer significant encouragement for cancer patients and their families. In general, the rate of cancer incidence has declined since the early 1990s, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Charles says noninvasive image–guided radiation therapy, or IGRT, and image–guided intensity–modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT, “have changed the whole concept of radiation–therapy treatment. We can now focus on treating the tumor only, the cancer, while minimizing damage to the surrounding healthy tissue.” In addition to IGRT and IMRT, his center offers a full slate of cancer–treatment options, including high–dose rate Brachytheray, and External Bean therapy. Cancer Care Centers of Brevard started a new era of cancer treatment for patients in Brevard and Indian River counties with the opening of its CyberKnife suite in 2007 in Melbourne.

The system is designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body, Dr. Charles said, adding that Cancer Care Centers of Brevard is the only facility on the Space Coast and in Indian River County to offer CyberKnife radiosurgery. The technology gives physicians and doctors an option to treat tumors that were once inoperable or thought to be surgically complex. The “smart system” continuously
tracks, detects and corrects for tumor and patient movement while delivering treatment with sub–millimeter accuracy, he said.

The CyberKnife system was created by Accuray Inc., and uses technology similar to that found on cruise–missile guidance systems. The system remains locked on the tumor and compensates for small “real–time” movements of either the patient or the tumor.
“The big news is, within the past couple of weeks, Medicare has approved CyberKnife for the treatment of prostate cancer,” Dr. Charles said. “By using the CyberKnife system, a patient can be treated in five sessions, as opposed to eight and a half weeks of treatment in the traditional vein. That is very important. But the prostate cancer must be in the early stage to be treated by
the CyberKnife system.” The results of a clinical study on CyberKnife radiosurgery for prostrate cancer was published in the
March 15, 2009, issue of the “International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics.”

The study, which involved the treatment of 41 low–risk prostate–cancer patients using CyberKnife radiosurgery, was led by Dr. Christopher King at Stanford University School of Medicine. Continual–imaging guidance was used to verify the target position throughout the procedure allowing the team to “precisely deliver very high doses of radiation in five short treatments.” At a median follow–up of 33 months, “no patient experienced a prostate–specific antigen, or PSA, recurrence and early side effects were no worse than other prostate– cancer therapies,” the study said. The authors refer to the findings as “highly encouraging” but remind readers that a longer follow–up is required to “confirm durable biochemical– control rates and low–rate toxicity profiles.” Physicians use two methods to check for prostate cancer: feeling for an unusual lump by means of a digital– rectal examination, and testing your blood for PSA.

“If I can convey any message, it is that cure rates for prostate–cancer patients are definitely getting better, if caught early — that is the key,” Dr. Charles said.