St. Jude Medical Center | St. Joseph Health System

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Comission on Cancer

For more information call (714) 446-5301

Cancer

A new era in cancer care

Offering more effective cancer treatment options

 

The St. Jude Crosson Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of Southern California’s finest treatment programs. Its physicians and staff are dedicated to helping people fight cancer by offering advanced treatment with the compassion and care that makes all the difference. Our cancer center includes the:

  • Virginia K. Crosson Cancer Center - (714) 446-5900
  • Ann G. Fetters Diagnostic Imaging Center - (714) 447-6400
  • Fred A. Jordan Family Radiation Oncology Center - (714) 446-5632
  • Kathryn T. McCarty Breast Center - (714) 446-5650

We provide some of the newest diagnostic procedures and therapies, ongoing clinical trials and the latest breakthroughs in biotherapy, chemotherapy and immunology. By combining highly trained medical oncologists, radiation therapists, surgeons and other cancer specialists with a commitment to innovation and excellence, we have been able to exceed the state and the nation’s overall cancer survival rates.

Because cancer’s toll is not just physical, but mental and spiritual as well, we offer a Nurse Navigator program, the Expressions Appearance Center, the Walk Among The Stars Cancer Resource Library, classes, support groups and more to help patients and families cope with the challenges of diagnosis and treatment.

To learn more about our program, please call (714) 446-5301.

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Hope & Healing

New Advances in Radiation Therapy

At age 40, Robert Kearns was successfully treated for an uncommon type of head and neck cancer. Five years later, Robert is in the best shape of his life and considers himself a lucky—and hopefully wiser—man. “Surviving cancer and the treatment side effects is equivalent to 20 years of inner reflection delivered at break-neck speed,” he explains. “You value life more deeply and live it with more determination.”

As a patient at St. Jude Medical Center’s Fred A. Jordan Family Radiation Oncology Center, Robert received Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), a highly precise form of radiation treatment in which the beams are carefully matched to the shape and size of the tumor. Available since the late 1990s, IMRT allows St. Jude’s radiation oncologists to customize the radiation treatment, shaping the dose around critical structures and allowing higher doses to the tumor.

Today, a new advance is available—IGRT or Image Guided Radiation Therapy—which works with IMRT to make radiation therapy for certain cancers more accurate and focused than ever before. “IMRT brought precision. IGRT brings accuracy,” explains Dechen Dolkar, M.D., board certified radiation oncologist. “For tumors near critical organs, IGRT provides an invaluable new weapon.”

Very soon the medical center hopes to purchase the new, state-of-the-art Varian Trilogy linear accelerator. With a multimillion dollar price tag, this technology will offer IGRT and IMRT, as well as the latest radiosurgery capabilities.

As the technology improves, so does our ability to successfully treat many types of cancer,” says Dr. Dolkar. “Advances in care, such as IGRT and radiosurgery, provide important new treatment options and allow us to continue to improve outcomes.”

Dr. Dolkar says she is hopeful that a generous community will make the new linear accelerator a reality: “Robert’s story had a happy ending. We are committed to creating thousands more just like it.”

To learn more about our program, please call (714) 446-5301.

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