A radiation oncologist is a specialist physician who uses ionizing radiation in the treatment of cancer. Radiation oncology is one of the three primary specialties, the other two being surgical and medical oncology, involved in the treatment of cancer. Radiation can be given as a curative modality, either alone or in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy. It may also be used palliatively, to relieve symptoms in patients with incurable cancers. A radiation oncologist may also use radiation to treat some benign diseases, including benign tumors. In some countries, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are controlled by a single oncologist who is a "clinical oncologist". Radiation oncologists work closely with other physicians such as surgical oncologists, interventional radiologists, internal medicine subspecialists, and medical oncologists, as well as medical physicists and technicians as part of the multi-disciplinary cancer team.. Radiation oncologists undergo four years of oncology specific training whereas oncologists who deliver chemotherapy have two years of additional training in cancer care during fellowship after internal medicine residency in the United States.
A radiation therapist, therapeutic radiographer or radiotherapist is an allied health professional who works in the field of radiation oncology. Radiation therapists plan and administer radiation treatments to cancer patients in most Western countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, most European countries, and Canada, where the minimum education requirement is often a baccalaureate degree or postgraduate degrees in radiation therapy. Radiation therapists can also prescribe medications and radiation, interpret tests results, perform follow ups, reviews, and provide consultations to cancer patients in the United Kingdom and Ontario, Canada .
In the United States, radiation therapists have a lower educational requirement and often require postgraduate education and certification in order to plan treatments.
The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, previously called Princess Margaret Hospital, is a scientific research centre and a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the University Health Network. The hospital now stands as the largest cancer centre in Canada and one of the five largest cancer centres in the world. Along with the Odette Cancer Centre, which is also associated with University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and is independently the sixth largest cancer centre in North America, it forms one of the largest cluster of cancer hospitals in the world.
In the field of medical procedures, proton therapy, or proton radiotherapy, is a type of particle therapy that uses a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue, most often in the treatment of cancer. The chief advantage of proton therapy over other types of external beam radiotherapy is that as a charged particle the dose is deposited over a narrow range of depth, and there is minimal entry, exit, or scattered radiation dose.
Radiosurgery is surgery using radiation, that is, the destruction of precisely selected areas of tissue using ionizing radiation rather than excision with a blade. Like other forms of radiation therapy, it is usually used to treat cancer. Radiosurgery was originally defined by the Swedish neurosurgeon Lars Leksell as "a single high dose fraction of radiation, stereotactically directed to an intracranial region of interest".
Varian Medical Systems (VAR) of Palo Alto, California, USA, is a radiation oncology treatments and software maker. Their medical devices include linear accelerators and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies software for managing cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers, and medical oncology practices. Varian is a supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical diagnostics, dentistry, veterinary care, scientific, security, industrial inspection including high-energy X-ray technology for cargo screening. Varian Medical Systems employs more than 7,100 people at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sites globally.
UC San Diego Health is the academic health system of the University of California, San Diego in San Diego, California. It is the only academic health system serving San Diego and one of only two Level I trauma centers in the region. In operation since 1966, it comprises the UC San Diego Medical Center, Hillcrest; Jacobs Medical Center; Moores Cancer Center; Shiley Eye Center; and Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, as well as several outpatient sites located throughout San Diego County. The health system works closely with the university's School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy to provide training to medical and pharmacy students and advanced clinical care to patients.
Tomotherapy or helical tomotherapy (HT) is a type of radiation therapy in which the radiation is delivered slice-by-slice. HT is a form of computed tomography (CT) guided intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). HT machines are purpose built for IMRT and differ from IMRT delivered by conventional medical linear accelerators (LINACs) in a number of ways. The main difference is that in HT a narrow intensity modulated pencil beam is delivered from a rotating gantry while the patient is simultaneously moved through the bore, compared to the much wider intensity modulated beam and static patient in conventional IMRT. HT units are therefore better able to target treatment sites throughout the body without a pause for the patient to be moved and set-up differently.
The CyberKnife System is a radiation therapy device manufactured by Accuray Incorporated. The system is used to deliver radiosurgery for the treatment of benign tumors, malignant tumors and other medical conditions.
Therapy is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a diagnosis. In the medical field, it is usually synonymous with treatment. Among psychologists and other mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, counselors, and clinical social workers, the term may refer specifically to psychotherapy. The English word therapy comes via Latin therapīa from Greek: θεραπεία and literally means "curing" or "healing".
Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC), a regional health system headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, serves an area of more than one million people. Founded in 1902, AAMC includes a 380-bed not-for-profit hospital, a medical group, imaging services, a substance use treatment center, and health enterprises. In addition to a 57-acre Annapolis campus, AAMC has outpatient pavilions in Bowie, Kent Island, Odenton and Waugh Chapel.
Sharp Grossmont Hospital is located in La Mesa, California, United States. It is the largest health care facility in East San Diego County with a service area covering 750 square miles. It is owned by Grossmont Healthcare District, who has leased it to Sharp HealthCare since 1991.
Tri-City Medical Center, founded in 1961, is a full-service, acute-care public hospital in Oceanside, California. Located 40 miles north of San Diego, Tri-City serves three major cities in the North County section of San Diego County: Oceanside, Vista, and Carlsbad. The hospital also owns and operates nearby outpatient services, as well as the Tri-City Health and Wellness Complex in Carlsbad, home to the Tri-City Wellness Center, a 58,000-square-foot medically integrated training facility.
Professor Minesh P Mehta, MD, FASTRO, is an American radiation oncologist and physician-scientist of Indian origin, Ugandan birth, Zambian Schooling and American Training, who contributed to the field of oncology for more than two and half decades.
Docrates Cancer Center is the first and currently the only private hospital in the Nordic countries that comprehensively specialises in cancer treatment. It operates in Helsinki, Finland. It characterises its operations as those complementing the public sector. Docrates Oy was established in 2006 and the hospital started its operations at the premises of Eira Hospital in autumn 2007. It moved to its own premises in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki, in 2009, where it has hospital rights. There is a ward and Health and Recovery Center located at Docrates Cancer Center. Among other things, diagnostics, pharmacotherapy, radiation therapy and isotopic treatments are carried out at the hospital. Cancer surgeries are performed in partner hospitals. Docrates also participates in clinical trials and the testing and development of new treatments.
Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience is a hospital in Center City, Philadelphia, affiliated with Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. The Hospital focuses on treating brain-related diseases and disorders. It is the only hospital of its kind in the Philadelphia area.
Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) is a not-for-profit, 245-bed, all private room facility in Mount Kisco, New York serving residents of Northern Westchester, Putnam County, and Southern Dutchess County, as well as parts of Fairfield County, CT. It was founded in 1916. Actor Christopher Reeve, died there on October 10, 2004.
Dr. Daniel Przybysz is a Brazilian Radiation-Oncologist with a notable clinical and academic background. His practice is mainly focused on lung cancer treatment and high technologies approaches toward better patient care.
