The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine opened its new Cancer Treatment Unit and Radiation Therapy Facility last Friday at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the Small Animal Clinic.
The entire unit cost $650,000, and much of its funding came from the Vet School and private donors, said Angela Vanveckhoven, coordinator of Vet School public relations.
“Almost one year ago today we gathered here for a ground-breaking ceremony,” said Vet School Dean Michael Groves. “Today we gather to officially open the cancer treatment unit for business.”
Although construction began last January, plans for the unit have been six years in the making, including a two-year campaign to raise money for the unit, Groves said.
This unit will give students an opportunity to work with some of the top faculty in the field and will be beneficial to the community, said Laura Lindsay, interim provost and vice chancellor.
The 2,000 square foot unit has advanced radiation therapy equipment that will allow veterinarians to minimize the amount of normal tissue irradiated.
Neal Mauldin, a board-certified oncologist, said this intensity-modulated radiation therapy sends a large amount of radiation to the targeted area.
David Senior, head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, said the equipment can irradiate just about any tumor shape. For example, if a tumor is the shape and size of a bumblebee, the machine can conform treatment to that shape and size.
The unit also has a chemotherapy suite, a radioactive iodine room and a 3-D radiation therapy planning area.
“We have some of the best equipment in the world,” Mauldin said. “One of only 2 veterinarian institutions have the capabilities that we bring to Louisiana today.”
This unit is the first kind ever in Louisiana and the second in the nation to be housed at a veterinary school. New York’s Cornell Univeristy was the first facility of this kind and the only other one to be housed at a vet school.
The Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center offers humans the same treatment this facility now offers animals. These two facilities are the only ones that have this high-tech equipment in Baton Rouge.
Neal and Glenna Mauldin, another board-certified oncologist, will staff the unit, as well as a medical oncology resident, a radiation oncology resident and four technicians.
They will build a memorial garden sometime in the near future, Neal said.
The new unit treated its first seven patients last week, Senior said. The Vet School receives eight to 12 cancer referrals a week and treats about 750 cancer patients a year.