OPINION

Masterson online: Where’s our SRT?

I’ve been waiting for a couple of years now for some enterprising Arkansas physician who believes in simple and painless technology over painful and often radical surgery to hear my plea on behalf of Arkansans beset by non-melanoma skin cancers.

That would include unsightly and tenacious basal and squamous cell cancers that often wind up taking root on our faces.

I’m still waiting. So far, and sadly enough, it appears only those in surrounding states are taking advantage of the remarkable SRT-100 very low-radiation machine by Sensus Healthcare to care for their skin cancer patients.

Earlier columns about this amazing portable machine that requires only 13 easy-peasy treatments over six weeks have explained how the angry red basal cell that arose and slowly grew in size and depth on the tip of my nose (wouldn’t ya just know) a few years back was fully erased without surgery or pain.

All I did was show up at the dermatology office of Dr. David Wright in Santa Fe twice each week for a strong cup of coffee and one-minute exposure to the portable machine. Yep, just that simple and infinitely better than my alternative: Mohs facial surgery. My concern was this surgery, developed in 1938, would remove much of the end of my nose and leave me facing weeks of embarrassing disfigurement, healing and hopeful recovery simply to get back to where I began: a nose minus the crusty red bump.

The SRT, I learned, uses various-sized tips (according to the size of one’s cancer) and administers only enough radiation to penetrate top layers of the skin directly onto the cancer site. Then I was up and gone. After six weeks of visits, my nose was clear. And it certainly was not difficult for the doctor since he relied heavily on a licensed radiology-trained nurse.

I began writing about this revolutionary treatment for the papers in Santa Fe, since Dr. Wright at that time was the only physician in New Mexico to have an SRT-100. Skin cancers are especially prevalent in Big Sky states like New Mexico with long daily exposure to the sun, and I was fortunate to be near the sole SRT-100 in the state.

Upon returning to Arkansas, I wrote about the award-winning technology in this space, hoping fellow Arkansans who find themselves afflicted by these little slow-growing but tenacious cancers might also benefit from how simple and effective this relatively new procedure truly is.

Since that time, more than a few have written to ask where they can go in Arkansas to avoid often radical skin cancer surgery. I’ve told everyone who asked that, sadly enough, Arkansas still doesn’t have even one doctor with an SRT-100.

Apparently, no physicians read my previous column or may not have cared enough to offer a treatment that is so painless and easy. For whatever reason, to my knowledge, our state is one of about eight that still doesn’t have a doctor who offers this treatment. Having been where the patients are, I’ve felt both empathy and compassion for those who’ve reached out to me, referring them to Sensus headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., for a list of participating doctors in surrounding states.

Four years after my SRT treatment, the basal cell on my nose along with one on my back have not returned. That’s the expected and usual result for these treatments, according to Joseph Sardano, CEO of Sensus Healthcare. Once the cancer cell is killed by the very low-level and tightly confined radiation bursts, it stays dead.

I asked Sensus how much an SRT-100 costs a doctor to lease. Demi Adams of its marketing department told me it runs about $4,000 monthly (the cost of treating two patients). The machines also can be purchased.

Dermatologists and other doctors in surrounding states have signed on and acquired SRTs for their patients, and I’d love nothing better in this column than to write about one or more Arkansas practices also offering this type of revolutionary care. I’m not the only one sold on this humane treatment. Frost and Sullivan (the respected global marketing research and business consulting firm) awarded Sensus Healthcare its 2016 “Best Practices Award” for the SRT-100’s effective and innovative technological method in treating non-melanoma skin cancers.

So here I am again writing about this non-invasive and safe method that spares skin cancer patients needless anxiety, pain, trauma, time, expense and often a prolonged recovery. I plan continuing to do so for sake of my fellow Arkansans until one or more of our state’s doctors decides to offer it for us.

Meanwhile, for Arkansans afflicted (as so many become as we sun-loving baby boomers age) here are physicians in surrounding states that offer SRT 1000 treatments: Dr. Dean Mittman, Mercy Clinic Dermatology, Springfield, Mo., (417) 820-6017; St. John Medical Center, Tulsa, (918) 744-3131; Dr. Melody Stone Advanced Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center, St. Joseph, Mo., (816) 364-1507; Tulsa Cancer Institute, McAlester, Okla., (918) 426-0625; and Dr. Lance Yeoman, Poplar Bluff, Mo., (573) 686-4750.

You might consider copying and saving these numbers. With most of us aging and skin cancer prevalent, you or someone you know might find them useful one day if one or more Arkansas physicians don’t acquire an SRT-100.

Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.

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