Treatment Options
Personalized cancer treatment specific to each patient’s tumor – care built around the patient is what we aim for. At Dignity Health – Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, our focus is caring for you with humankindness, while treating your cancer with an individualized treatment plan. Yes, now is the perfect time to book your mammogram.
The Dignity Health – Cancer Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center offers some of the most advanced and successful cancer treatments in the Southwest. Our team approach allows for multiple specialties to provide input, enabling us to create a treatment plan tailored to the unique needs of each patient.
Get started by downloading or printing our patient guidebook in English or Spanish.
Treatment Options Built Around Precision Medicine
The Precision Medicine program at Dignity Health – Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s in was the first in the Dignity Health system. Precision medicine, also referred to as individualized or personalized medicine, enables a higher level of cancer care. Using genetic information and/or tumor profiling to understand the disease, the oncologists may be able to determine the treatment(s) that is (are) most likely to help a patient. While a precision treatment is not available for all types of cancer yet, ongoing research is making progress and new information is discovered frequently. Our oncologists will formulate an individual treatment plan for each patient and continue to monitor and participate in the clinical trials that are geared toward identifying more ways to personalize cancer therapies.
"You’re not getting general practice oncology here. You’re getting site-specific oncology, where the treatment providers are experts in their specific field. And that, for most of us, required years of additional training. That’s how we stay academic, how we stay focused on the newest things coming out. We don’t want to practice medicine from 10 years ago. We want to practice medicine from now.”
Cancer Treatment Options
Interventional Radiology
Interventional radiology uses image guidance, such as X-rays, CT scans and ultrasounds, to perform minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that are effective alternatives to surgery.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation oncology is a common cancer treatment that uses radiation to treat and kill tumors. Radiation oncology options at St. Joseph’s are comprehensive and robust, and include Gamma Knife, Cyberknife, Brachytherapy, IMRT, and External Beam Therapy. These radiation options provide finely targeted radiation to tumors, sparing surrounding healthy tissue. Our radiation oncologists work with each patient to determine which options will provide the best outcomes.
Surgical and Minimally Invasive Services
Our state-of-the-art advanced surgical methods include:
- Minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery
- Image-guided cancer surgery and sentinel lymph node biopsy
- Transanal endoscopic microsurgery, a minimally invasive alternative to radical abdominal surgery for the removal of rectal polyps and early stage cancer
- The da Vinci Surgical System, a sophisticated robotic platform that enables complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach
Chemotherapy and Infusion Services
Chemotherapy is the use of medication to kill cancers. Our Outpatient Infusion Center offers a convenient location for chemotherapy treatment.
Personalizing Your Care
Through a personalized approach, we are able to tailor your care to treat your specific cancer. Medication, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery and other treatment options will be specifically planned to attack your specific type of cancer, driving out the disease and improving your outcome. Our interdisciplinary experts discuss each patient as a team and develop treatment recommendations using available clinical and genomic information to ensure the best care for you.
When cancer affects a loved one, caregivers play a key role in the physical, emotional and day-to-day support of the patient. That’s why at Dignity Health – Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s, we are dedicated to providing a network of resources for caregivers – from medical and home health advice, to financial planning and support groups that can make fighting cancer feel like a team effort.
Multidisciplinary Approach to Cancer Care
At the Dignity Health – Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s, we take a multidisciplinary team approach that includes radiation medicine experts. The radiation oncologists focus on radiation treatment options, while other specialists focus on other aspects of your care. Our doctors provide leading-edge radiation therapies that are unique and may not be available at other centers in our community. Above all, we focus on a precision approach and compassionate care for each patient.
Learn more about cancer treatment
For more information or to make an appointment, call (602) 825-2039.
