Hospital and Infusion Services
Inova Cancer Services offers both adult and pediatric inpatient cancer care on dedicated hospital units. Multidisciplinary medical care is provided to cancer patients admitted to Inova hospitals, with additional emphasis on the emotional, social and spiritual needs of patients and families. Nutritional care also is an area of special expertise at Inova's cancer centers. Through counseling, patients and families receive nutritional recommendations to enhance treatment during and after their hospital stays.
Inova Cancer Services offers both adult and pediatric inpatient cancer care, with an additional emphasis on the emotional, social and spiritual needs of patients and families.
We offer cancer patients a broad range of innovative treatment options, so treatments are as precise, effective and minimally invasive as possible.
A full range of outpatient services also is available, including infusion, apheresis, peripheral stem-cell harvest, plasma apheresis, leukocyte apheresis, chemotherapy, blood and platelet transfusion, and pain management.
Surgical Oncology
Inova Cancer Services offers sophisticated expertise in the surgical diagnosis and treatment of the full range of cancers. State-of-the-art cancer treatment technology is available, including cryotherapy for liver, cervix and prostate tumors; sentinel-node mapping procedures for breast, melanoma and colon cases; prostate seed implants; endoscopy; yag laser for treating a variety of GI and pulmonary tumors; transanal ultrasound for colorectal tumors; and chemotherapy wafers for neurosurgery. In selected cases of liver cancer, organ transplant is performed.
Medical Oncology
A dedicated medical oncology unit, staffed by registered nurses and an oncological clinical nurse specialist, experienced in all phases of cancer treatment, are a standard at Inova's cancer centers. Nurses are specially certified to administer chemotherapeutic agents. Cancer treatment is available, including care of the patient during and after chemotherapy, brachytherapy and thyroid ablation therapy. Stem-cell transplants are utilized for leukemia, Hodgkins and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and amyloid and solid tumor management.
Radiation Oncology
Inova Cancer Services has one of the largest radiation oncology treatment services in the area. Radiation oncology services are offered at most Inova hospitals and at the Potomac Radiation Oncology Center, a service of Inova Health System and Potomac Hospital. Radiation oncology services include customized treatment using the most modern therapy modalities, such as 3D, multi-leaf collimation and conformal therapy, high-dose remote afterloading, and brachytherapy.
Interventional Radiology
For patients diagnosed with inoperable tumors involving the liver, kidney, bone and lung, Inova Cancer Services offers other options for treatment. For example, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a new technique in which a heated device destroys a precise area of tumor tissue with very little risk of damaging adjacent normal tissue. RFA frequently is performed on an outpatient basis, under sedation, with minimal side effects.
Chemoembolization is another minimally invasive treatment for inoperable tumors. This technique involves administering chemotherapy directly into the tumor through a tiny tube. This method can be extremely effective in treating primary liver cancers, as well other metastatic tumors.
Musculoskeletal Oncology
Inova Cancer Services includes a Musculoskeletal Tumor Program on the campus of Inova Fairfax Hospital. From diagnosis to treatment to rehabilitation, the Musculoskeletal Tumor Program brings together the talents of a first-class multidisciplinary team of physicians to offer patients the full spectrum of musculoskeletal tumor care
Prostate Seed Implant
Inova Cancer Services offers prostate seed implants, one of the most innovative treatments for prostate cancer. Prostate seed implants involve the precise insertion of tiny radioactive seeds directly into the prostate gland using ultrasound imaging. Using this technique, the radiation oncologist can deliver two to three times the radiation dose that could be delivered via external beam radiation. This outpatient surgical procedure is performed under epidural anesthesia with no incision. Patients usually return to normal activity within several days. Inova Alexandria Hospital was one of the nation's pioneers of prostate seed implants and has performed more than 1,200 procedures since 1994.
Endoscopic Ultrasound
Endoscopic ultrasound, a highly innovative, nonsurgical, precise technique for evaluating tumors difficult to find by standard procedures, is available through Inova Cancer Services. This procedure also enables the physician to simultaneously view and biopsy possible cancerous tissue. Endoscopic ultrasound is used to evaluate, diagnose and stage cancers, including esophageal, biliary, colorectal, gastric and pancreatic. This outpatient procedure does not require general anesthesia and is well-tolerated by patients.
Stereotactic Radiosurgery
Inova Fairfax Hospital is the only hospital in Northern Virginia to offer stereotactic radiosurgery, a technique in which a very high radiation dose is delivered with extreme precision to a very small target. This technique was developed as a substitute for surgery, particularly in brain tumors that are inaccessible to the surgeon due their critical location. This same technology, improved through Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, can also be applied to prostate cancer.
Bone Marrow Transplantation
The stem cell/bone marrow program at Inova Fairfax Hospital and Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children is the only adult and pediatric stem-cell program in the Northern Virginia region. Inova Fairfax Hospital performed its first bone marrow transplant in 1989, giving patients with leukemia, Hodgkins and non-Hodgkins lymphoma disease, testicular cancer, amyloid and multiple myeloma, and a variety of pediatric tumors access to this treatment. Our physicians have performed more than 500 bone marrow transplants.
Inova's bone marrow transplant services include allogeneic transplantation, mini-allotransplantation, matched unrelated transplants, inpatient and outpatient autologous transplantation, cord-blood collection and clinical research.
Inova's bone-marrow transplant program is the first in Virginia to be accredited by FAHCT (Foundation for Accreditation of Hemopoietic and Cellular Therapies).
The program is an approved national bone-marrow donor program. Bone marrow harvests are performed in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, the American Red Cross and the Department of Defense.
For more information on bone-marrow transplant services, please call 703-970-3178.
For information about cancer diagnosis, call Inova HealthSource at 703-750-8800.