New machine helps local prostate cancer patients

A local prostate cancer patient was the the first in the Coachella Valley to receive a new form of cancer treatment previously unavailable in the region.

The patient, whose name is being withheld for privacy reasons, received his first treatment utilizing the Spectra Optia technology Friday morning at LifeStream Blood Bank’s La Quinta Donor Center.

The treatment, funded locally by Desert Healthcare District with a $60,000 grant, could only be utilized previously by Coachella Valley patients who had to go to Orange or Los Angeles counties to receive the treatment.

“The community owes a debt of thanks to Desert Healthcare District for funding this technology and ensuring that this process can continue to be utilized by local patients close to home,” LifeStream president and CEO Frederick Axelrod said

The district recently approved the purchase of an apheresis machine, which collects cancer cells from men with advanced forms of prostate cancer, treats them at a laboratory and transfuses them back into the patient. LifeStream officials say the reprogrammed cells will attack cancer cells after being returned to the patient.