Expert cancer treatment in northern Colorado
Your cancer care team consists of Poudre Valley Cancer Network physician experts and other health care professionals highly trained to treat cancer.
Depending on your cancer type and stage, you may work with all or some of the following cancer treatment team members:
In addition to your doctors who diagnose and treat cancer, there are also support team specialists dedicated to providing you with a personalized treatment plan. You may also choose to work with a patient navigator, clinical research nurse, cancer massage therapist and/or a cancer rehabilitation specialist as part of your team.
Your Care Team Roles
Medical Oncologist: A doctor who specializes in the treatment of cancer and manages a patient's treatment plan. A medical oncologist may give cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy or targeted (biological) therapies, and work with other cancer specialists and your primary care physician.
Surgeon: A doctor who specializes in surgery (performing operations). Surgeons treat injury and diseases through operations. They perform surgical operations on the body to diagnose, stage and/or treat cancer.
Radiologist: A doctor who specializes in radiology. Radiology uses medical imaging technologies to diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer. Poudre Valley Cancer Network radiologists have obtained additional fellowship training in radiology and subspecialize in areas such as breast imaging and cancer imaging.
Pathologist: A doctor who specializes in analyzing the body's tissues and cells to determine whether or not they are cancerous.
Radiation Oncologist: A doctor who specializes in the use of radiation to treat cancer. Radiation therapy uses a certain type of energy (called ionizing radiation) to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation can be used alone or in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy to treat cancer.
Oncology Nurses: Nurses who specialize in patient care and cancer. Oncology nurses often become a special part of your treatment team because of the bonds that form over the course of your treatment journey. Your oncology nurses perform many roles in your care, from being part of your treatment appointments, helping with answering questions or monitoring side effects, to being by your side if you are admitted to the hospital. Poudre Valley Cancer Network's inpatient and outpatient oncology nursing teams rank among the best in the nation.
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