MD News South of Boston Edition
The field of radiation oncology has undergone nothing short of a revolution over the past 10 years. Technological advances have ushered in not only exciting new modalities, but innovative, redesigned equipment as well. Of course, improved treatment protocols followed suit and, as a result, radiation therapy is now generally more successful — and better tolerated — than ever before.
As it turns out, these improvements couldn’t come at a better time. State health officials predict that Massachusetts’ graying baby boomers will soon require unprecedented levels of cancer care. By some estimates, over 38,000 residents will be diagnosed with cancer in 2010 — remarkably, that’s an 18% increase above the number of new cases diagnosed in 2000.
In an effort to meet this growing demand and improve community access to cutting-edge radiation therapies, Shields Health Care Group has opened two suburban radiation oncology centers to complement South Suburban Oncology in Quincy, which came on line in 1995. Reaching out to patients north of Boston, Shields Health Care Group teamed up with Winchester Hospital and opened the Winchester Hospital Radiation Oncology Center in the spring of 2007.