You are not alone

To patients

Facing cancer is hard, a difficult challenge for the individual diagnosed and for one's family and friends. It is a time when specialized medical care is critically needed. Patients often find a doctor through their primary physician, a tip from a friend or family member, or the patient may already be acquainted with an oncologist.

Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation are the three most common treatments for cancer. How these modalities are used depends on the type of cancer, its stage and the general health of the patient.

• Surgical oncologists perform biopsies, transplants and remove tumors in treating and managing cancer.
• Medical oncologists administer chemotherapy drugs that attack cancer directly, killing it, or indirectly, keeping it at bay.
• Radiation oncologists use radiation to image tumors and to skrink or kill them.

Cancer research is focused on improving all of these treatment approaches, ultimately discovering better prevention and screening methods to identify at-risk populations.

Laboratory-based researchers at The MCG Cancer Center are studying normal and abnormal cell biology, the immune system's T cells and new molecular targets, among other interests. MCG clinical oncologists are offering minimally invasive surgical techniques, exciting drug therapies and safer, more effective ways to deliver radiation.

To physicians

For information on clinical trial protocols, contact:

Pam Bourbo, RN, MPH, OCN, CCRC

Manager

Cancer Clinical Research Unit

706-721-2730
pbourbo@mcg.edu

For information on current clinical trials, see Phase I and II trials listing.