The Windsor Regional Cancer Centre is making progress in replacing older equipment to provide improved radiation treatments to cancer patients across the region.
In March 2025, Windsor Regional Hospital brought a fourth linear accelerator, or LINAC, into service to conduct radiation treatments on cancer centre patients.
The cancer centre was expanded to accommodate the new radiation bunker and state-of-the-art accelerator, which has resulted in the other three existing machines being replaced one at a time since the installation of the fourth LINAC.
The hospital has so far replaced one of the older machines with a brand new one and is in the process of replacing another one with the new technology expected to go live in July. The final LINAC is expected to be replaced later this year with the goal of having the new one functional by January or February 2027.
Vice President of the Erie-St. Clair Regional Cancer Program Jonathan Foster says the new technology is less invasive for patients.
"We do them in pairs, so two machines will have slightly different types of treatment availability, and the other two will be slightly different as well, which lets us target different disease pathways," he says. "That way if we have to do maintenance on one, we've always got the sibling LINAC that can deliver the same type of treatment for us."
The hospital says at least three of the LINACs will be in operation at one time until all the existing ones are replaced.
Vice-President for the Erie-St. Clair Regional Cancer Program Jonathan Foster says the addition of the fourth LINAC a year ago has allowed for the delivery of around 100,000 cancer treatments for radiation per year, 26,000 more per year before the fourth LINAC was brought online...
"We are definitely increasing the numbers. In between replacements, we do run for a month to two months with four machines running so we can make sure our wait times are as minimal as possible," he says. "Our target is to start radiation therapy for newly diagnosed cancer or a newly initiated treatment plan within two weeks of getting the order. We're doing really well in meeting that target."
Foster says some of the treatment protocols used to take 20 to 25 doses of radiation, but it can now be done in 5 to 7 with the new LINAC technology, which also creates additional capacity to treat more patients.
"What is does is deliver focused radiation therapy to target cancer, especially solid tumours within the body. The new technology lets us be even more precise, so less tissue surrounding the tumour or cancer cells are exposed to radiation, and it has a much more targeted impact. What it does is actually eradicate the cancer cells; it kills them," he says.
The project was funded as part of a $30 million investment by the Ontario government.
The new machines will be moved to the Fancsy Family Hospital once construction is complete and it opens at County Road 42 and the 9th Concession.