Our experienced oncologists at Providence use brachytherapy as a treatment for breast, head and neck, and gynecologic cancers, and more. During treatment, seeds, ribbons or capsules containing radiation are implanted in or near a tumor in your body, effectively destroying cancer cells and shrinking tumors. It can be applied on a temporary or permanent basis.

Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, which grow and divide quickly. The drugs can be administered orally, through intravenous lines, or in other ways. Chemotherapy can be used alone as a cancer treatment, or along with other treatments like radiation therapy and surgery. Each drug in a chemotherapy regimen is carefully selected to target the specific type and stage of the cancer being treated.

External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) is one of Providence's most common and effective cancer treatments. It helps reduce the size of tumors through precise doses of X-ray beams. The radiation from the X-ray eliminates cancer cells and shrinks tumors. Different types of EBRT, like 3D conformal radiation therapy or image-guided radiation therapy, are used to lower the risk of radiation leaking to other organs near the cancer area. These therapy sessions are pain free and require only a few visits.

Fine needle aspiration biopsy, or FNA biopsy, involves using a thin needle to pierce a cyst or mass to remove fluid or other cells for testing. A pathologist will examine the removed cells to determine if they are cancerous or noncancerous. FNA biopsy is often used for diagnosing breast, thyroid, and other cancers. The procedure is minimally invasive and is generally performed under local anesthesia on an outpatient basis.

Specialists at Providence use your genetic and genomic information to offer insight into a variety of inherited conditions including different types of cancers, heart, and neurologic diseases and more. Our genetic and genomic services include risk-assessment, genetic counseling, detailed genetic consultations and genetic testing. By combining leading-edge research with our clinical expertise, we’re able to bring you the best personalized care to support your specific health needs.

Our best-in-class specialists at Providence perform head and neck surgery for cancers detected in the mouth, throat, nose, eye and orbital area, salivary glands, and other sites. Since there are long-term side effects to surgery, including difficulty swallowing, chewing, or talking, we focus on removing the cancer while working hard to maintain your quality of life.

Our highly experienced cancer specialists use integrative medicine as an effective cancer treatment option. It’s a type of medical care that combines standard medical treatment with complementary and alternative therapies that have been shown to be safe and to work.

Interventional radiology is a non-surgical treatment option for a variety of conditions. It often results in less pain, risk, and recovery time than typical surgery. Our world-class specialists and clinicians usually use images as road maps to guide needles or a catheter through the body to the disease site. Common interventional radiology procedures include needle biopsies, chemotherapy, spinal nerve injections, tumor therapy for liver or kidney cancer, and many more.

Receiving a serious or chronic illness diagnosis can change your life dramatically and you may need additional support. Palliative care focuses on relieving pain and symptoms and prioritizing comfort and quality of life in any stage of your illness. Providence palliative care programs assist families with the comprehensive management of the patient’s physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs. Our palliative care team is available for long-term needs as well as for help in managing short-term side effects from treatment like chemotherapy. We provide counseling, planning assistance and help navigating the medical system.

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that targets proteins that control how cancer cells grow, divide, and spread. Targeted therapy generally is administered through one of two methods:

• Small-molecule drugs, which are small enough to enter cells easily, can be used for targets that are inside cells.
• Monoclonal antibodies, which are proteins produced in the lab. These proteins are designed to attach to specific targets found on cancer cells. Some monoclonal antibodies mark cancer cells so that they will be better seen and destroyed by the immune system.

These types of therapies help to find, slow and destroy cancer cells in very targeted ways.

Thermal ablation, also known as cryoablation, radiofrequency and ablation, is used to treat difficult cancers. These include serious cases of breast, kidney, liver, prostate, thyroid, and pancreatic cancers. At Providence, we recommend using thermal ablation when surgery to remove a tumor is not feasible. During the procedure, a catheter or needle is inserted into the body and carefully guided to the specific area where cancer is located. Doctors most often use CT scanning or ultrasound imaging to guide these tools. The tips of these tools use either radiofrequency energy, liquid nitrogen, electric currents, or heat to destroy (ablate) the cancer cells within the tumor.