New radiation equipment to help fight cancer could soon be in Yuma

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - New radiation equipment to help fight cancer could soon be in Yuma. Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Krysten Sinema both support a bill that would bring this new radiation machine to Yuma with a price tag of $1-3 million.

Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) is the only provider of radiation therapy in Yuma and services could soon expand.

As a bill already in Congress could provide funds to the YRMC's Cancer Center.

The senate-labor HHS education appropriations bill stands to provide funds to purchase new radiation equipment named the Varian TrueBeam LINAC.

The cutting-edge technology provides finely tuned radiation therapy according to Dr. Abhinav B. Chandra, who said, “These new machines are so accurate that they cannot more than 1- or 2-millimeter damage to the surrounding tissues so we went to make sure that we have the technology which car pinpoint the treatments very specifically to the cancer cells and prevent any damage the normal healthy cell that us why it's important.” 

YRMC was among 6,000 projects vying for the funds. 

Only 1,000 submissions made the cut, YRMC being one. 

Dr. Chandra said the need to provide cutting-edge medical services is important to patients in rural areas like Yuma.

Dr. Chandra said, “We want to make sure we are able to provide care which is state of the art and in tune with what patients would get in Tuscon or San Diego, we want to provide that care.” 

YRMC plans on starting construction next month to prepare for the purchase of the new LINAC equipment in late 2024.