The Center for Cancer Care & Research (CCCR) features the area’s most comprehensive team of cancer experts, including oncology-hematology specialists who use medical and chemotherapeutic methods to treat cancer. These experts also treat malignancies of the blood and blood-forming tissues. They function as a cancer patient’s chief oncologist working closely with the patient’s primary care physician, as well as the wide-range of specialists (surgeons, radiation oncologist, pathologists, pulmonologist, radiologists, etc…) in cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy treatment and follow-up care.
CCCR is the only local affiliate of the world-renowned H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute; a collaboration that allows Polk County patients the benefit of the latest clinical trials and treatment breakthroughs closer to home.
CCCR is one of only two freestanding cancer centers in the entire country to receive accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, an achievement that illustrates the exemplary standards they set for their patients in the areas of treatment, research, education and quality of care
A Team Approach
A CCCR patient receives exemplary care from their oncologist-hematologist, as well as from the collective expertise of the entire team.
“Our team will meet two to four times a week as a group to review individual cases,” says Dr. Fred J. Schreiber, specialty spokesperson for the department of oncology-hematology. “During these meetings, we examine the x-rays, look at biopsies under a microscope, review the patient’s history, and debate and plan a course of treatment accordingly. It’s like having multiple doctors coming to the patient’s bedside every step of the way during treatment.”
The physicians also conduct a series of meetings devoted to specific cancers, including breast, lung and cancers of the bone marrow system.
In addition, either outside or in-house speakers review a variety of cancer-related topics with the entire staff on a weekly basis, which keeps everyone up to date on the latest treatment protocols and technological advancements in cancer care.
As cancer is an all-encompassing illness, the team approach also comes into play as the patient benefits from the convenient referrals they often receive to Watson Clinic’s family of more than 200 board-certified physicians across 40 medical and surgical specialties, including those housed in the Watson Clinic Women’s Center.
The Latest Technologies
Watson Clinic’s oncologists-hematologists at CCCR are surrounded by experts using the most advanced technologies in the field, including high and low dose rate brachytherapy, image guided radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, PET/CT and more.
Last year, CCCR installed the Trilogy linear accelerator, which has the distinction of being the most powerful cancer treatment technology in the world. This revolutionary machine dispenses a uniform dose of high-energy x-ray to the patient's tumor, destroying the cancer cells while sparing the surrounding normal tissue in a more precise manner than has ever been possible before.
Physicians
Luis A. Franco, MDShalini Mulaparthi, MDFred J. Schreiber, MDGalina Vugman, MD
Locations
Center for Cancer Care & Research - Lakeland
1730 Lakeland Hills Blvd.
Lakeland, FL 33805
Please call 863-603-4770 to schedule an appointment.