Programs

Making a choice about your cancer care is important. You need a team of cancer care specialists with the depth and breadth of experience to develop the best treatment plans and access to the latest advances in therapies and technology. You want your care delivered in a comfortable setting by kind and understanding people.

At Arizona Oncology, our focus is cancer. Thanks to the dedication of our highly skilled physicians and staff who specialize in caring for patients with cancer, we provide unparalleled access to the most innovative, advanced therapies and latest technologies right here in our community.

Arizona Oncology medical teams work closely together in every stage of diagnoses, treatments, and decisions that will affect your health. This teamwork brings you the advantage of multiple opinions, and medical services that are customized to best treat your specific condition.

Call your local Arizona Oncology cancer center to learn about specific services offered in your community.

Medical Oncology

Medical oncology services you receive at Arizona Oncology are provided by a team that consists of medical oncologists and oncology-trained nursing staff.

This team plays a major role in your cancer care. They manage your treatment plans and therapies, monitor and evaluate your progress, and collaborate on your best options with your other medical caregivers. They consult with you on your choices and any temporary side effects you may experience during chemotherapy treatments. They offer medical guidance, helping you make decisions along the way. And they also connect you and your family with the best supportive services for educational, emotional, and financial challenges you may face.

Radiation Oncology

Your radiation oncology team consists of a radiation oncologist and staff, working closely with your medical oncologist or referring physician. The purpose of your radiation therapy is to damage or destroy cancerous cells by preventing them from growing or dividing, while minimizing adverse effects on nearby healthy organs and tissues.

At Arizona Oncology, you receive today's most precise radiation applications due to our advanced treatment planning systems and state-of-the-art radiation equipment.

Your treatment plan may include one or more of the following technologies:

CT Simulation enhances radiation treatment planning by generating three-dimensional images for utmost accuracy in targeting and mapping specific treatment areas. With Virtual CT Simulation, oncologists can deliver high doses of radiation to a tumor, while minimizing the amount of radiation to normal, surrounding tissues.

Treatment planning is enhanced with the use of a three-dimensional treatment planning computer. Using the information and images provided by the Virtual CT Simulator, the computer generates a treatment plan tailored to the patient's cancer care needs. Guided by three-dimensional models, the physician, physicist and dosimetrist can accurately determine the most effective dose of radiation to be delivered during treatment.

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) uses computer-generated images and treatment planning to deliver high doses of radiation to a tumor, while minimizing the amount of radiation to normal, surrounding tissues. The higher dose to the tumor can result in a higher possibility of cure, and the lower dose to surrounding tissue results in fewer side effects.

Imaging Fusion technology enhances radiation treatment planning by enabling oncologists to more precisely and confidently locate and define tumors. With Imaging Fusion, oncologists can scale, rotate, and translate images into 3D for an accurate perspective of their size and shape.

High Dose Rate Brachytherapy (HDR) uses a radioactive source that is placed inside the body part to be treated. Then, a high dose of radiation is given to a limited area, sparing the surrounding normal tissue. HDR brachytherapy lasts only a few minutes in the outpatient setting and causes little discomfort, fewer complications, and a more rapid recovery time.

Low Dose Rate, Permanent Interstitial Prostate Seed Implant uses radioactive sources that are placed inside the prostate to destroy cancer cells.

Gynecologic Oncology

If you are a woman faced with cancer in the pelvis or reproductive system, Arizona Oncology gynecologic oncologists can help. These physicians and their staff specialize in cancers of the female organs.

Your gynecologic oncology team consults with your other oncology teams to develop treatment plans, evaluate your progress, and determine your best options. They offer medical guidance, helping you make decisions along the way. They are also available to assist you and your family with the best supportive services for educational, emotional, and financial challenges you may face.

Chemotherapy

Arizona Oncology medical oncologists and hematologists may determine that chemotherapy should be included as part of a patient's cancer treatment plan. Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancerous diseases with drugs that interfere with cancer cell growth and reproduction.

Chemotherapy may consist of single drugs or combinations of drugs. It can be administered through a vein, injected into a body cavity, or delivered orally in the form of a pill. Chemotherapy is different from surgical or radiation therapy, as cancer-fighting drugs circulate in a patient's blood to parts of the body where the cancer may have spread. It can kill or eliminate cancer cells at great distances from the original tumors.

Chemotherapy is administered by oncology nurses under the direction of a medical oncologist. Our pharmacists and nurses are highly trained in the preparation and management of chemotherapy-related drugs.

At Arizona Oncology, we strive to make chemotherapy treatments as pleasant and comfortable as possible for patients. Our oncology teams work closely together to manage dosages and monitor patient progress, to ensure the best formulas and treatment plans to fight specific disease.

Hematology

Arizona Oncology hematology teams are made up of hematologists and their staff, who specialize in disorders relating to blood and blood-forming organs and tissues.

Arizona Oncology  hematology teams develop treatment plans, evaluate progress, and determine their patients' best options. They offer medical guidance, helping patients make decisions along the way. And they also connect patients and their families with the best supportive services for educational, emotional, and financial challenges they may face.

Laboratory Services

Arizona Oncology can perform many of the routine laboratory tests that are required for your treatment. However, some tests may be sent to outside laboratories for processing. Your insurance company may also require your tests to be done at one of their contracted laboratory facilities. Your testing and results will be held in the strictest of confidence by any outside laboratories that Arizona Oncology uses for processing.

Although the time often varies for processing and receiving lab results, your doctor will review your lab results as soon as they become available, and discuss them with you at your next visit. If any of your tests show conditions that require immediate attention, your physician or nurse will quickly contact you.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT)

Your Arizona Oncology physicians may include PET and CT scans in your cancer care plan, as these tests can greatly improve their ability to evaluate and treat your disease.

A PET and CT scan combines two powerful imaging techniques into one of the most advanced medical imaging tools available. PET shows a body's metabolic activity, while CT shows anatomy. When fused together, the information from these scans can be used with a high degree of confidence to detect, localize, and assess the stage of a variety of cancers.

Research & Clinical Trials

Due to many advances in medical and biotechnology sciences, and recent breakthroughs in understanding the human genetic code, there are more anti-cancer drugs in development today than ever before.

The role of the community oncologist is critical in testing and rapidly bringing these advances to patients. However, most community practices do not have the scale or resources to build an active research program.

Through Arizona Oncology, patients can take part in exciting new clinical trials – right in their own communities. Arizona Oncology  is a primary participant in the nationwide US Oncology Research Network, made up of 170 research locations with an experienced staff of more than 300 dedicated research professionals.

Through this highly efficient organization, new drugs and therapies are sped from the research lab into the real world, reaching patients as quickly as possible. Eleven anticancer drugs have received FDA approval, largely due to the work of the US Oncology research program.

As the largest practice that contributes to this vast research community, Arizona Oncology has played a key role in the accrual of over 16,000 cancer patients participating in clinical trials. Over 90 trials are currently being conducted involving chemotherapy, immunotherapy, stem cell transplantation, and gene therapy.

Access to this extensive network of research and clinical trials gives cancer patients in Arizona the added advantage of cutting-edge expertise and treatments that may shrink their tumors or alleviate their symptoms.