A full range of comprehensive medical and surgical specialists are available at the Sophia Gordon Cancer Center at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. Board-certified physicians in medical oncology, radiation oncology and surgical oncology collaborate to bring personalized, compassionate care to patients.

Lahey uses a multidisciplinary, team approach as its foundation for delivering cancer services. Clinicians treating the same patient readily consult one another, review test results and work in partnership on treatment plans. Regular tumor conferences are held to exchange information on complex and common diagnoses, and then, together, doctors plan the best therapies for patients. Cancer therapies are designed using the most advanced treatments, research, clinical trials and support resources. Treating the whole patient by understanding the emotional and physical effects of cancer is central to Lahey’s model of care.

In addition, to support the all-inclusive needs of our cancer patients, Lahey offers integrative therapy services, also known as alternative therapy services, for cancer patients. Among these services are acupuncture, art therapy, massage therapy, Reiki and the YMCA Pink Program, a special exercise program for breast cancer patients based on their activity levels.

Site-Specific Focus

This unique approach is further distinguished by a cancer site-specific focus. Lahey has cancer teams, each headed by a director-leader and comprised of at least one hematologist, oncologist, radiation oncologist, surgeon, as well as various allied health care providers. Each team focuses on one of the following cancer sites: breast, lung, hepatobiliary, colon and rectal, bladder, kidney, prostate, gynecology, head and neck, hematologic, and skin and brain. This approach to care ensures patients’ needs are addressed immediately, efficiently and in a clinically appropriate manner.

In 2008, the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons awarded the Sophia Gordon Cancer Center its Outstanding Achievement Award for excellence in providing cancer patient care. This distinction is recognized by only 19 percent of cancer programs surveyed by the group.

Lahey cancer services are now available in Burlington, Peabody and Derry and Salem, NH (Parkland Medical Center).