General Practitioners

• Medical Weight Loss
• Colonoscopy
  To diagnose the presence of cancer, a doctor must look at a sample of the affected tissue under the microscope. Hence, when preliminary symptoms, Pap test, mammogram, PSA test, FOBT, or colonoscopy indicate the possible existence of cancer, a doctor must then perform a biopsy, which is the surgical removal of a small piece of tissue for microscopic examination. (For leukemias, a small blood sample serves the same purpose.) This microscopic examination will tell the doctor whether a tumor is actually present and, if so, whether it is malignant (i.e., cancer) or benign. In addition, microarrays may be used to determine which genes are turned on or off in the sample or proteomic profiles may be collected for an analysis of protein activity. This information will help doctors to make a more accurate diagnosis and may even help with treatment planning.
• Diarrhea

Gynecologists

• Pregnancy
• Labor and Delivery
  Scientists are still studying how radiation treatment affects fertility. If you are a women in your childbearing years, you should discuss birth control measures with your doctor. It is not a good idea to become pregnant during radiation therapy. Radiation may injure the fetus. In addition, pregnancy, childbirth, and caring for a very young child can add to the physical and emotional stress of having cancer. If you are pregnant before beginning radiation therapy, special steps should be taken to protect the fetus from radiation.

Internists

• Ovarian Cancer
• Cervical Cancer
  A screening technique called the Pap test (or Pap smear) allows early detection of cancer of the cervix, the narrow portion of the uterus that extends down into the upper part of the vagina. In this procedure, a doctor uses a small brush or wooden scraper to remove a sample of cells from the cervix and upper vagina. The cells are placed on a slide and sent to a laboratory where a microscope is used to check for abnormalities. Since the 1930s, early detection using the Pap test has helped lower the death rate from cervical cancer more than 75 percent. Should abnormalities be found, an additional test may be necessary. There are now 13 high-risk types of human papillomaviruses (HPV) recognized as the major causes of cervical cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an HPV test that can identify their presence in a tissue sample. This test can detect the viruses even before there are any conclusive visible changes to the cervical cells.
• Colon Cancer
  In theory, differences in heredity or environmental risk factors might be responsible for the different cancer rates observed in different countries. Studies on people who have moved from one country to another suggest that exposure to risk factors for cancer varies by geographic location. For example, in Japan, the rate of colon cancer is lower, and the rate of stomach cancer is higher than in the United States. But this difference has been found to gradually disappear in Japanese families that have moved to the United States. This suggests that the risk of developing the two kinds of cancer is not determined primarily by heredity. The change in risk for cancer for Japanese families could involve cultural, behavioral, or environmental factors predominant in one location and not in the other.
• Prostate Cancer
  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the PSA test along with a digital rectal exam to help detect prostate cancer in men age 50 and older. Doctors often use the PSA test and DRE as prostate cancer screening tests; together, these tests can help doctors detect prostate cancer in men who have no symptoms of the disease. Most men with an elevated PSA test though turn out not to have cancer; only 25 to 30 percent of men who have a biopsy due to elevated PSA levels actually have prostate cancer so researchers are working hard to find new clues. Experts are trying to develop better blood tests that might alert people to malignancies while the cancers are still in their early stages, for example, several new blood tests for ovarian or prostate cancer are under development.
• Cancer Care
  With our experience, expertise, and resolute commitment to our patients, we have become a recognized leader in providing high quality, personalized cancer care.
• Lung Cancer
  Among the various factors that can cause cancer, tobacco smoking is the greatest public health hazard. Cigarette smoke contains more than two dozen different chemicals capable of causing cancer. Cigarette smoking is the main cause of lung cancer and contributes to many other kinds of cancer as well including cancer of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, and bladder. Current estimates suggest that smoking cigarettes is responsible for at least one out of every three cancer deaths, making it the largest single cause of death from cancer. Other forms of tobacco use also can cause cancer. For example, cigars, pipe smoke, and smokeless tobacco can cause cancer of the mouth.

Radiologist

• Radiology
• X-Rays
• Mammography
  Breast cancer can sometimes be detected in its early stages using a mammogram, an X-ray of the breast. Mammography is most beneficial for women as they age and undergo menopause. Mammography is a screening tool that can detect the possible presence of an abnormal tissue mass. By itself, it is not accurate enough to provide definitive proof of either the presence or the absence of breast cancer. If a mammogram indicates the presence of an abnormality, further tests must be done to determine whether breast cancer actually is present.
• Computed Tomography
  The next scheduled appointment is usually for review and discussion of test results and/or for a simulation. This appointment may take 30 to 90 minutes. A simulation involves using either specialized CAT (CT) scan or other X-ray films to determine the treatment field position. It will be at this time that pen marks and/or tattoos will be placed on the skin so that we can position you precisely for the radiation therapy treatment. The temporary skin markings indicating treatment areas should not be washed away until you are instructed to do so. If you are marked with the permanent tattoos, do not attempt to remove them. These tattoos are a record of the location of the treatment field for your current treatment. This particular treatment field may need to be identified many months or even years in the future. If a CT scan is required either before or sometime during your treatment, it will most likely be performed at our office where we have a specialized dedicated scanner used only for radiation treatment planning. This procedure may take 10 to 30 minutes.
• Chemotherapy
  Most patients return to the radiation oncologist for regular follow-up visits. Others are referred back to their original doctor, to a surgeon, or to a medical oncologist, a doctor who is trained to give chemotherapy (treatment with anticancer drugs). Your follow-up care will depend on the kind of cancer you have and on other treatments that you had or may need.
• Radiation Therapy
  We surround you with an entire team dedicated to your comfort and recovery. Within our centers, our board-certified radiation oncologists lead a highly trained staff. We have full-time, board-certified medical physicists and dosimetrists who work closely with our physicians to ensure optimal treatment planning and delivery. Our therapists are certified by the American Registry of Radiological Technologists in Radiation Therapy. Our physicians work close with your other doctors for optimal communication and coordinated delivery of your care.
• Radiation Oncology
  At Tacoma Valley Radiation Oncology Centers we’re passionate about our patients. Our caring and highly trained team will treat you like family while providing you with the most advanced treatment planning and sophisticated, cutting-edge radiation therapies with the highest level of quality and personalized care.

Surgeons

• Reconstructive Surgery

Dermatologists

• Skin Cancer
  During the development of skin cancer, the normal balance between cell division and cell loss is disrupted. The basal cells now divide faster than is needed to replenish the cells being shed from the surface of the skin. Each time one of these basal cells divides, the two newly formed cells will often retain the capacity to divide, thereby leading to an increase in the total number of dividing cells.
• Rashes
• Skin Care

Physical Therapists

• Physical Therapy