The Cancer Program at Shore Medical Center is a strategically planned, coordinated multi-disciplinary effort. For each cancer case, the team brings together the best possible resources in diagnosis, treatment and follow-up to create a customized plan of treatment.
Shore Medical Center is committed to offering cancer care services on par with large metropolitan hospitals. That commitment includes investment in the most advanced technology and expert providers in the fight against cancer. Beyond clinical excellence, our medical staff and the entire cancer care team are passionate about providing treatment in an environment that is caring, respectful, and compassionate.
- Inpatient and outpatient care
Shore Medical Center’s inpatient oncology unit and outpatient ambulatory hematology/oncology unit offer services to meet the unique and complex needs of patients with cancer including:
- Nurses specially trained in cancer management
- Symptom management, including pain management, infection control and minimizing the side effects of therapy
- Chemotherapy
- Blood product administration
- Care and management of intravenous treatment devices
- Nutritional counseling
- Rehabilitation
- Patient counseling and spiritual support
- Discharge planning, including referrals to other community services and agencies as needed
- Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy is one of the main forms of cancer treatment. It can be used alone or in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy. A sophisticated linear accelerator is used to create a narrow beam of radiation that is carefully aimed to destroy cancer cells while limiting the dose to healthy tissue. Shore Cancer Center’s TrueBeam(R) linear accelerator is located in the Cancer Center.
Before initiating radiation therapy, imaging studies are performed to pinpoint the exact location of the cancer. This can be accomplished through traditional X-rays, CT scans, MRI, ultrasound and other studies.
When radiation therapy is required, the treatment planning process typically begins with a CT simulation. This imaging process allows the radiation oncologist to determine the best course of treatment for the patient.
Through 3D conformal radiation therapy, the dose to the tumor can be maximized and still limit the dose of radiation to other organs within the body. If the tumor is adjacent to or wrapped around a normal organ, the radiation oncologist may use Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) or Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) to deliver the radiation.
To further enhance the precision of radiation treatment delivery, image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) is used. This is accomplished through the latest technological addition to Shore Medical Center's linear accelerator. Through the use of an on-board imager (OBI), 2D or 3D images are taken just prior to the patient's treatment. This improves accuracy by compensating for day-to-day movement in the patient's treatment position allowing for even smaller treatment margins.
The Shore Cancer Center Radiation Oncology Department is accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR). ACR Accreditation ensures that Shore’s program meets the most current and stringent standards in staffing, equipment, quality control and technical capability
- Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy also known as "chemo" is a type of treatment for cancer that uses a medication or combination of medications to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Shore Medical Center’s cancer care team includes chemotherapy specialists and nurses who are specially trained in the administration of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is offered in our patient-centered chemotherapy suite.
- Lifetime Follow-up
Through our Cancer Registry, we are dedicated to lifetime follow-up of every cancer patient diagnosed or treated at Shore Medical Center.
Established in 1984 as part of the medical center’s cancer services, the Cancer Registry is responsible for collecting, reporting, following and maintaining the data of all cancer patients.
The data collected is reported to the New Jersey State Cancer Registry as required by law and to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) as required for approval by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC). All data is confidential and the registry staff strictly adheres to hospital-wide confidentiality policies.
Physicians and employees at Shore routinely utilize aggregate data for retrospective quality improvement review and initiatives, as well as outcomes analysis. Additionally, Shore Medical Center participates in CoC special studies.
