U-of-I breaks ground on new cancer treatment center

Ground will be broken at 2 PM today on what promises to be a revolutionary cancer treatment center at the University of Iowa. The 40-million dollar Center of Excellence in Image-Guided Radiation Therapy will be built just across from the south end zone of Kinnick Stadium. Dr. John Buatti is head of the U-of-I’s Department of Radiation Oncology.Stereo-tactic guided-therapy is a very focused type of surgery, which Dr. Buatti says links the image from a C-T scan or an M-R-I with the actual patient. Buatti says the U-of-I Hosptials have been doing this type of surgery already, but only on patient’s brains. The technology is now being used in places besides the brain. It should improve therapy and allow more tumors to be cured and to give patients fewer side effects by treating less of their normal tissue. He expects the new center, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2004, will draw cancer patients from, not only across the nation, but across the world.