Radiation therapy (radiation oncology imaging and treatment) plays a critical role in the management of many cancers and, as the technology evolves, is emerging as a primary treatment alternative to surgery for certain malignancies. Main Line Health is committed to keeping pace with advances in safe, effective, and efficient delivery of radiation therapy while making the treatment process as easy as possible on patients.
As part of this commitment, Main Line Health recently completed a major restructuring of the radiation oncology department and upgrade of the radiation treatment facility at Riddle Hospital. The goal of this initiative is to ensure patients at Riddle Hospital have access to a full range of radiation oncology expertise and services and receive care in a treatment environment geared to their comfort.
Radiation Oncology Center at Riddle Hospital is a newly renovated radiation treatment facility and integrated component of the comprehensive cancer program at Main Line Health.
Radiation oncology expanded clinical services
As a fully integrated component of Main Line Health Cancer Care, the Radiation Oncology Center at Riddle Hospital is a gateway to the comprehensive radiation oncology imaging and treatment options available across the health system, including all cancer clinical studies involving radiation therapy for patients who meet study criteria. Patients also have access to well-established, tumor-specific, multidisciplinary care teams.
From an efficiency standpoint, integration of radiation oncology services at Riddle Hospital also enables greater ease of collaboration on treatment planning and coordination of patient care, as all care team members across Main Line Health have shared access to patient medical records.
Radiation oncology center designed with patients in mind
Studies show that the physical care environment strongly influences a patient's sense of well-being. With this in mind, the radiation oncology imaging and treatment facility at Riddle Hospital has been redesigned for patient ease and comfort. Priority was given to creating a soothing and quiet treatment space, incorporating safety features such as nonslip flooring, and providing ample patient parking convenient to the facility.
Radiation therapy services include:
- Intensity-modulated radiation therapy
- Image-guided radiation therapy
- Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)
- Stereotactic radiosurgery (select brain lesions)
- High-dose-rate brachytherapy
- Hypofractionated whole-breast radiation therapy and accelerated partial breast irradiation
- Moderately hypofractionated and ultrahypofractionated (5 fraction) radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer
- Respiratory gating, breath-hold, and tumor tracking techniques; radiation therapy protocols for cardio protection
- Palliative radiation therapy
Radiation oncology team at Riddle Hospital
The Radiation Oncology Center at Riddle Hospital is staffed by experienced Main Line Health radiation oncologists and highly trained dosimetrists, radiation therapists, and nurses who have been members of radiation therapy teams at institutions such as Lankenau Medical Center, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Penn Medicine, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Main Line Health's Division Chief of Radiation Oncology, Linna Li, MD, has particular expertise in treating breast cancer as well as lung cancer, cancers of the head and neck, and brain metastases. Dr. Li works with other cancer specialists like Albert DeNittis, MD, and Erik Assarsson, MD, to design and deliver personalized, multimodality therapy.
Dr. DeNittis treats a variety of cancers, with a focus on cancers of the colon, rectum, lung, prostate, and skin as well as gynecologic and non-colorectal GI cancers and brain metastases. Dr. Assarsson treats a variety of cancers, with a focus on colon and other GI cancers, lung cancer, prostate cancer, endometrial cancer, and skin cancer.
Have you or a loved one been diagnosed with cancer or need radiation oncology imaging and treatment?
Come to the Radiation Oncology Center at Riddle Hospital. The center offers advanced expertise in the field of radiation oncology as well as coordination of multidisciplinary care and patient access to clinical trials involving radiation therapy.
