UPMC Passavant adds $10M cancer treatment technology

PITTSBURGH — UPMC Passavant unveiled a $10 million investment into its UPMC Hillman Cancer Center with the addition of new equipment that can pinpoint target radiation into areas of the body previously unavailable at the hospital.

The new advanced linear accelerator will begin treating patients early next month after a nearly 12-month procurement and construction process at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center that included lead-lined rooms and installation of the equipment. The linear accelerator is able to pinpoint and focus on cancer more quickly with fewer sessions, said UPMC Passavant President Dr. Elizabeth Piccione and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center-Passavant Medical Director Dr. Kiran Mehta.

Piccione said the location of the linear accelerator is crucial to the patients in the North Hills and beyond who would previously have had to go to Pittsburgh for the treatment, particularly of brain cancer.