Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology

Dr. James Santoro, Dr. Matt Mumber and Dr. J.C. Abdou, Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncologists

Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology offers Northwest Georgia cancer patients the world's most advanced physician directed cancer treatment technologies delivered with expertise and integrity by a caring and compassionate staff. We understand that no two cancer patients and no two cancers are alike. That's why when you choose Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology for your cancer therapy, you and your family are welcomed as individuals. We customize your care to meet your physical, emotional and general health needs.

Our specialties and technologies include:

  • Three linear accelerators provide external treatments with multiple energies and beam types
  • Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), available on all our linear accelerators, goes beyond conventional 3-D treatment to deliver a higher dose to the tumor site while minimizing damage to healthy tissue
  • Image guided radiation therapy
    • Primatom CT - Linac, one of five in the United States and the only one in Georgia. This system combines a CT scanner and linear accelerator for the ultimate precision in daily beam placement.
    • BAT ultrasound allows prostate target confirmation by ultrasound before each daily radiation treatment
  • Prostate seed implants are available for eligible male patients as an alternative to external beam radiation and, when appropriate, an alternative to surgery.
  • MammoSite radiation therapy provides internal radiation to the lumpectomy cavity with two daily treatments over five days for early stage breast cancer
  • Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treats brain malignancies with high dose focused radiation beams
  • Integrative oncology combines evidence based complementary and alternative medicine with conventional medical therapies to create individualized plans to treat the whole person.
  • National Cancer Institute and medical device clinical trials

The center is accredited by the American College of Radiology and designated a Cancer Treatment Center of Excellence by Siemen's Corporation.

What To Expect

More than half of all people with cancer are treated with radiation. For many, this is the only kind of treatment needed. Others may require radiation in combination with surgery, chemotherapy and/or biological therapy.

External Radiation
External radiation therapy is delivered by a large machine called a linear accelerator. Our office has three machines. Doctors have used external radiation beams (similar to extremely high dose x-rays) for decades to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells.

Your first visit, called simulation, is to identify the tumor area using conventional x-rays or CT scans. Tiny dots will be tattooed to mark the precise place on your body where the radiation beams will be aimed. This may take from 30 minutes to about 2 hours.

Radiation therapy usually is given 5 days a week for 5 to 7 weeks. For situations in which the goal is to help with pain or other symptoms, the treatment may last 2 to 3 weeks. While you may spend from 15 to 30 minutes in the treatment room each time, getting your radiation dose lasts only about 1 to 5 minutes. Like an x-ray, it's painless.

The radiation therapist may put special shields or blocks between the machine and certain parts of your body to help protect normal tissues and organs. There also may be plastic or plaster forms to keep you in exactly the right place. You can breathe normally during treatment; however, it's important that you not move so the radiation reaches only the area where it's needed each time.

Side Effects
Radiation side effects usually are minimal and vary significantly depending on the area treated. Your physician will go over specific details of your situation prior to treatment.

Internal Radiation
One of the best known forms of internal radiation therapy is prostate seed implants, the use of which is determined by a patient's prognosis and his baseline urinary function. In an outpatient surgical procedure, the radiation oncologist uses ultrasound to guide insertion of tiny pellets containing iodine-125 or palladium-103 into a man's cancerous prostate. External beam therapy to enhance the power of seed implants may be used for intermediate to high-risk patients. While the seeds remain permanently implanted, after a time they simply lose their activity.

MammoSite for women with breast cancer is the newest internal radiation system to treat women who are eligible for this form of breast conserving therapy. After a lumpectomy, a small balloon attached to a tiny tube is inserted in the breast cavity from which the tumor was removed. As a daily outpatient for one or five days, depending on whether or not external beam radiation also is used, the patient is briefly connected twice a day to a machine that delivers radiation directly to the tumor site, targeting only the tissue at greatest risk for recurrence.

Radiation implants also have been used with some success for thyroid, head and neck, uterus, cervix and some liver and soft tissue tumors.

Patient Confidentiality
Long before the federal HIPAA rules expanded patient privacy regulations in April 2003, Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology has worked hard to protect our patients' privacy. Our standards meet and exceed those established by the government. We do not release medical records or any portion of them without written authorization from you.

Lynn Shepard, Our Receptionist

Appointments and Office Hours
Our medical center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For emergencies, one of our doctors is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you have HMO coverage that requires a referral, you will need to bring the referral and referral number to your first appointment.

Radiation treatments are scheduled by appointment. If you are not able to keep your appointment, please notify the office at least 24 hours before you are scheduled to arrive. In case of emergencies or if you are suddenly hospitalized, please notify us as soon as possible. For the best health outcome, it is very important that you maintain your regular treatment schedule.

Denise Hutchins and Becky Kelley, Our Billing Staff

Insurance and Payments
Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology participates in nearly every health insurance and managed care plan in northwest Georgia as well as Medicare and Medicaid. Generally, we will verify your benefits, file your claim for you and bill you for the balance after we receive the insurance settlement. Our financial counselors are always available to work with you.

Our Support Staff
Our staff includes more than twenty dedicated and caring health care professionals with exceptional training and experience in their fields:

  • Radiation physicists certified by ACR
  • Medical dosimetrists
  • Registered radiation therapists
  • Financial counselors
  • Oncology nurses
  • Cancer registrar
  • Clinical office assistants
  • Reception staff
  • Center administrator

Center of Excellence For Georgia and The Southeast

A Tradition of medical "Firsts"
In 2002, Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology made a significant financial commitment to bring the world's latest and most advanced technology to cancer patients in Northwest Georgia. In addition to purchasing new equipment, we continuously upgrade each linear accelerator to the highest standards of radiation technology.

Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology is Georgia's first free-standing center to offer cancer patients Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). IMRT goes beyond conventional 3-D treatment to deliver a higher radiation dose to the tumor site while minimizing the effect on healthy tissue. All of our linear accelerators have this capability.

In 2002 and 2003, our office began extensive equipment and building expansion. In 2004, we became one of fewer than a dozen centers nationwide - and the only one in the Southeast -- to acquire the Siemen's Primatom. The system combines a CT scanner and linear accelerator for the ultimate in daily beam placement. Because the Primatom keeps the patient on one table, there is no opportunity for organs or tumors to shift. This system is so revolutionary, physicians have compared its significance to the early use of ether anesthesia for surgery.

In May 2002, Siemens Medical Solutions, the leading manufacturer of radiation equipment and systems, and designer of the Primatom, designated Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology as a Cancer Treatment Center of Excellence for the Southeastern United States.

In recent years, Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology has been one of the few centers in the Southeast to provide BAT ultrasound localization with IMRT, another significant method in addition to the CT localization used by the Primatom for directing daily beam placement, primarily in prostate cancer patients.

Harbin Clinic Radiation Oncology is one of the state's first centers to offer women with early stage breast cancer the newest breast conserving therapy, MammoSite Radiation Therapy System, which delivers internal radiation therapy twice a day for no more than five days compared with six weeks for conventional external radiation therapy.

Our radiation oncologists also offer expertise in Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) to treat malignancies of the brain with high dose radiation beams.
These investments in the most advanced cancer treatment technology complement our highly trained and compassionate staff. By combining this with the newest treatment modalities and clinical trials, we ensure that the quality of our care is second to none.