LSU Vet Med acquires new linear accelerator to offer more advanced cancer treatment for pets
September 24, 2024
Veterinary technicians Shay Bordelon and Bryan Amato prepare a patient for radiation treatment at LSU Vet Med.
The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine has acquired a new linear accelerator to provide more advanced radiation treatment for cancer treatment. The new linear accelerator is a Varian Trilogy and provides stereotactic radiotherapy and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT treatments using a technology called RapidArc, which allows the treatments to be performed in a shorter period, thus minimizing the time the patient is under sedation.
LSU Vet Med is one of the few veterinary facilities in the country to offer IMRT and has the only radiation unit in Louisiana. In 2023, the Cancer Treatment Unit had approximately 2,200 patient visits.
“Our goal is to improve patient care by shortening the treatment time. Stereotactic radiotherapy is a technique that involves aiming a high dose of radiation at the tumor while minimizing the radiation to the normal tissues in the body. This allows us to decrease radiation side effects while optimizing tumor control,” said Jayme Looper, DVM (LSU 1997), DACVIM, professor of radiation oncology.
The LSU Vet Med Cancer Treatment Unit was formed in 1998 to aid in the diagnosis, care, and treatment of veterinary patients with cancer in Louisiana and the surrounding areas. The facility offers state of the art care consisting of two major service units—medical oncology (chemotherapy) and radiation oncology. Each of these units is designed to diagnose and treat veterinary cancer patients with the most advanced and cutting-edge technology available. The oncology service works from a team approach, so a patient requiring chemotherapy and radiation therapy has the benefit of being evaluated by specialists in each of these fields, who then design a treatment protocol tailored to their individual needs. Additionally, we work very closely with the other services in the teaching hospital (surgery, clinical pathology, internal medicine) to provide an integrated approach to each case.
Veterinary technicians Bryan Amato and Shay Bordelon prepare a patient for radiation therapy.
Veterinary technicians Bryan Amato and Shay Bordelon at the Cancer Treatment Unit's computer station, where they can start the treatment while observing the patient over a video feed.
Dr. Andea Dedeaux (LSU 2011), visiting oncologist), and Dr. Jayme Looper (LSU 1997), professor of radiation oncology, discuss the patient's treatment plan at the Cancer Treatment Unit's computer station.
About LSU Vet Med: Bettering lives through education, public service, and discovery
The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is one of only 33 veterinary schools in the U.S. and the only one in Louisiana. LSU Vet Med is dedicated to improving and protecting the lives of animals and people through superior education, transformational research, and compassionate care. We teach. We heal. We discover. We protect.