Patient-Centered Treatment

The Cancer Center operated by MidState Medical Center offers a wide range of treatment options, including medical oncology, radiation therapy, surgical oncology and outpatient infusion. Should you need inpatient hospital care during your treatment, you will be treated in our dedicated 24-bed oncology and surgical unit specially designed to meet the needs of cancer patients and their families.

Comprehensive, Compassionate Care

To ensure the finest care, patients are seen daily by interdisciplinary health care teams that include physicians, nurse practitioners, oncology social workers, oncology-certified RNs, pharmacists, physical therapists and other professionals.

Experienced, Specialized Nursing

Our highly skilled nurses have special expertise in oncology, including administration of chemotherapy and management of pain and symptoms.

Trained Volunteers

Specially trained volunteers visit daily to provide support and extra comforts such as hand and foot massages.

Treatment Services

Click each link for more information on our treatment services.

• Medical Oncology

The board-certified physicians of Medical Oncology and Hematology, PC, a practice with private offices on-site at the hospital, provide outpatient chemotherapy to patients at MidState. The expertise of these physicians ensures that our patients receive the finest care available. MidState Medical Center also participates in a number of clinical trials and new protocols to provide the widest possible range of treatment options.

• Radiation Oncology

MidState's advanced radiation planning and treatment capabilities, as well as its skilled and caring staff, ensure the finest care for patients with cancer. Allan S. Kratzer, MD, who completed his residency in Radiation Therapy at Harvard Medical School's prestigious Joint Center for Radiation Therapy, leads our Radiation Oncology team.

• CT Simulation

CT Simulation lets MidState technicians create extraordinary three-dimensional images of the patient's body to outline and digitally target a tumor. This enables radiation therapists to align radiation beams to the tumor with pinpoint accuracy.

• IMRT-Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy

This state-of-the-art treatment delivers high doses of radiation directly to cancer cells, while sparing surrounding normal tissues. IMRT allows safer and more accurate treatment of cancerous tumors and can be used to treat tumors that might have been considered untreatable in the past, due to their close proximity to vital organs and structures.

• External Beam Radiation

The Elekta SLI linear accelerator at MidState Medical Center is the most technologically advanced accelerator currently available. This machine can deliver higher doses of radiation more precisely to tumor sites, thereby maximizing the likelihood of destroying cancerous tissue, while minimizing damage to surrounding normal tissues. The Elekta SLI has three photon energies and five electron energies to irradiate tumors at any depth. It has an eighty-leaf multi-leaf collimator and is digitally computer driven, allowing for the most precise delivery of radiation therapy using "dynamic conformal radiation therapy."

• Prostate Seed Implant Program (Brachytherapy)

In addition to external beam radiation therapy, the cancer program at MidState also offers a prostate seed implant program. With this procedure, radiation can be delivered to the prostate by surgically placing small radioactive seeds directly into the prostate using ultrasound guidance. The advantage of brachytherapy is its ability to deliver higher doses of radiation to the prostate gland, with smaller doses to surrounding tissues (bowel, bladder, rectum). Prostate Seed Implantation reduces the risk of treatment-related side effects including impotence. Urologists and radiation oncologists collaboratively plan and perform the procedure in the operating suite at MidState Medical Center.

• Surgical Oncology

MidState's affiliated surgeons - including those with expertise in surgical oncology, thoracic surgery, urology and otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) - are board certified in their respective specialties and are available for outpatient and inpatient consultation, as well as collaborative multidisciplinary management of a broad spectrum of malignancies.

• Outpatient Infusion

MidState's Outpatient Infusion services provides care to patients who require short-term intravenous treatments, as well as tests that can be performed in an outpatient setting.

Outpatient Services include:

• Transfusion of blood products
• Once-daily antibiotics
• Chemotherapy
• Biotherapy
• Intravenous hydration
• Subcutaneous, or intramuscular injections.