Medical Oncology Program

At the Overlake Cancer Center, you’ll have access to the latest cancer treatments, close to home for families on the Eastside. Our care team has specialized training in many types of cancer and will build and tailor a treatment plan to your specific needs. 

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, our team is here for you. The Overlake Cancer Center works in collaboration with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center at the Overlake campus to provide world-class cancer care on the Eastside. This means that Fred Hutch medical oncologists work closely with Overlake cancer surgeons and radiologists to provide you with the best possible treatment. You’ll have access to state-of-the-art therapies, clinical trials and a compassionate care team dedicated to you.

Medical oncology is the branch of cancer care where doctors use medicines like chemotherapy and immunotherapy to treat cancer. It's different from radiation oncology which uses radiation to treat cancer or surgical oncology which uses surgery to treat cancer. At Overlake, many of our patients have medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and surgical oncologists working together to plan and provide all aspects of their cancer care. Our medical oncologists:

• Diagnose cancer and determine what stage it is.
• Help you and your loved ones understand your diagnosis and treatment options.
• Help you manage your symptoms and side effects.
• Monitor your progress through treatment.
• Discuss your care and progress in meetings with other doctors.

Cancers we treat

At Overlake, we treat a wide variety of cancers including:

• Bladder cancer
• Breast cancer
• Cervical cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Gynecologic Cancer
• Lung cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Prostate cancer

Medical oncology treatments and services

Some patients come to Overlake with a precise cancer diagnosis. For others, our care team may recommend certain tests to get more information about your cancer to determine the best treatment plan.

Once your care team has built your treatment plan, your medical oncology treatments may include:

• Chemotherapy, a medicine that aims to stop cancer cells from growing and spreading. You may have chemotherapy in addition to other treatments like radiation or surgery. Your doctor may also use chemotherapy to shrink a tumor before surgery or to treat tumors that cannot be removed with surgery.
• Hormone therapy, to target cancers that need certain hormones to grow and spread, such as certain types of breast and prostate cancer.
• Immunotherapy and monoclonal antibodies, which leverage your immune system to help fight cancer.
• Targeted therapy, where we look at the genes inside of cancer cells and select treatments specifically designed to stop those cancer cells from growing and spreading.

A team of experts dedicated to you

Our team includes doctors with special expertise and interest in cancers including breast, colon, lung and prostate cancers. Each week, our medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologists and other experts meet to discuss each patient’s unique cancer and determine the best plan for their needs. This means you’ll benefit from many experts working together to give you the best possible care.

You’ll also have access to other care team members who support every aspect of your health and work to make cancer treatment as easy on you and your family as possible. This includes nurse navigators, massage therapists, nutritionists, physical therapists, social workers and many other experts. 

The latest in cancer care

At Overlake, you’ll have access to some of the latest approaches and therapies, including:

• Targeted treatments for breast, colon, lung, prostate and other cancers where doctors closely examine your cancer cells to determine if a treatment developed to target specific cancer mutations may be the best option for you.
• Access to genetic counselors to help you understand if your family may be at risk for a certain type of cancer, or if you have a higher risk of cancer because of a family history of the disease.
• Through our partnership with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, we offer clinical trials, providing access to the latest therapies before they are widely available.
• Highly precise surgeries through our surgical oncology program.

Find Providers