Clinical Overview
Clinical Excellence
The UF Health Cancer Center’s clinical enterprise uses a comprehensive care model, with multidisciplinary cancer programs offering advanced treatment options, such as minimally invasive and robotic surgery, proton and intensity-modulated radiotherapy, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy in conjunction with the Precision Cancer Care Program, as well as access to clinical trials with limited availability elsewhere.
A Team Approach to Cancer Treatment
- The UF Health Cancer Center is a state-designated Cancer Center of Excellence. The designation by the Florida Legislature recognizes hospitals and treatment centers that demonstrate excellence in patient-centered coordinated care for people undergoing
cancer treatment and chemotherapy. - UF Health is designated as a Center of Excellence for myeloma, myelodysplastic syndromes and pancreatic cancers.
- The patient outcomes of the UF Health Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program are ranked among the top 2.5 percent nationwide. It is one of 20 core centers nationwide that comprise the NHLBI/NCI Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network.
- The UF Health Proton Therapy Institute is one of the few proton facilities in the country that have achieved accreditation by the American College of Radiology. It is internationally recognized as a cancer care destination for pediatric radiation oncology patients.
- The UF Health Breast Center is accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers and is the first in the state to offer intraoperative radiation therapy using Intrabeam®.
A Group Effort for Individualized Care
The multidisciplinary teams at the UF Health Cancer Center meet weekly to discuss the details of each patient’s case. This approach leads to a personalized plan created to guide each patient through diagnosis, treatment and recovery. This plan also includes guiding patients who need several different therapies to their ideal cancer treatment combination. The plan is customized for the specific type of cancer, its stage and a patient’s needs and overall health. When a patient begins their journey, a nurse navigator coordinates all aspects of the patient’s care, including ensuring the patient and family understand the care plan.
Multidisciplinary Clinical Programs
- UF Health Breast Center
- Blood and Marrow Transplant and Leukemia Program
- Orthopaedic Oncology Program
- Gastrointestinal Oncology Program
- Gynecologic Oncology Program
- Head and Neck Cancer Program
- Lung Cancer Program
- Metastatic Disease Program
- Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Program
- Skin Cancer and Melanoma Program
- Urologic Cancer Program
First in Florida | Stem Cell Transplant Options
Nearly 70 percent of all patients in need of a stem cell transplant do not have an exact-match donor within their families and may have a difficult time finding a match among unrelated donors who volunteer to participate in national blood and marrow registries.
It’s for this reason that the UF Health Cancer Center has adopted first-in-the-state use of cord-blood transplantation and “half-match” transplantation programs from mismatched family members. This program has led to viable donor options for nearly all patients in need of a transplant.
The Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research reports that the UF Health Cancer Center’s one-year, risk-adjusted survival rate is in the top 2.5 percent for all transplant centers nationwide.
The Blood and Marrow Transplant and Leukemia Program and hematologic malignancies services offer inpatient and outpatient services using a multidisciplinary care approach that optimizes patient outcomes.
Stem Cell Treatment
UF Health has successfully performed stem cell transplantation to treat a broad variety of malignant and benign hematologic disorders, including:
- Acute and chronic leukemia
- Myelodysplastic syndromes
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Hodgkin’s disease
- Myeloproliferative syndrome
- Severe aplastic anemia
