Patient Care

Teenagers and young adults have different needs than other cancer patients. The AYA Cancer Program provides individualized cancer support for patients age 13 to 39 facing a cancer diagnosis.

The Bladder Cancer Center of Excellence at UNC Lineberger includes a team of recognized experts in bladder cancer care within a strong multidisciplinary urologic oncology program to match. Our team combines outstanding surgical skill with tremendous expertise in radiology, medical oncology and radiation oncology. Bladder cancer patients receive the benefit of our experience combined with one-stop consultative care and coordination with their local physician to create the best treatment plan possible.

The Bone and Soft Tissue Oncology Program takes a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating patients with musculoskeletal tumors. Through the coordinated care of expert physicians from medical and pediatric oncology, surgery, orthopedic surgery and radiation oncology, we manage all types of bone and soft tissue sarcoma. The program offers the most up-to-date advances in screening methods, diagnostic tools, surgical techniques, and medical and radiation therapies. The overall goal of the program is to ensure that patients receive leading-edge, integrated specialty care for bone or soft tissue cancer.

Established in 1992, the Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program has performed transplants on more than 2,700 patients. Our program cares for both adults and children with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. We use a multidisciplinary approach to provide comprehensive and supportive care to all recipients, donors, and their families. Our transplantation team consists of physicians, physician extenders, nurse coordinators, social workers, and a financial coordinator. Additional resources are provided by transfusion medicine, pharmacy, pastoral care, and recreational therapy.

The mission of the UNC Cancer Care Brain Metastases Specialty Clinic is to improve outcomes, enhance quality of life, and offer new therapeutic strategies for patients with brain metastases arising from breast cancer and other solid tumors. The Brain Metastases Specialty Clinic is currently a pilot project focused on treating patients with primary breast cancer brain metastases. This project will pave the way for a broader specialty clinic focused on brain metastases of multiple tumors. Our clinic brings together the expertise of UNC Cancer Care’s nationally-recognized Breast Center, Neuro-oncology, and Radiation Oncology programs to provide patient and family-centered care tailored to the special needs of these patients.

The UNC Breast Center takes a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating patients with breast cancer. Our team includes physicians from surgical, medical, and radiation oncology; reconstructive surgery; fertility preservation; and psychiatry, as well as radiologists; pathologists; oncology nurse navigators; nurse practitioners; geneticists; patient, financial and pharmacy benefits counselors; clinical trial nurses; physical therapists; a social worker, and a dietitian.

The Cancer Genetics Program provides consultations for individuals who may be at an increased risk of developing cancer. Our cancer genetics team is comprised of board-certified medical geneticists, several board-certified genetic counselors, and faculty from the molecular diagnostic laboratory. This core team works with members of other multidisciplinary programs to provide fully integrated care for patients at UNC. All patients seen by this multidisciplinary team receive comprehensive risk assessment so that appropriate cancer preventative measures can be implemented when needed.

UNC Lineberger is one of only seven academic centers in the United States with the scientific, technical and clinical capabilities to develop and deliver chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) immunotherapy. Our Clinical Immunotherapy Program currently offers clinical trials investigating novel therapies that involve re-engineering cells from the patient’s immune system to create CAR-T cells that are designed to recognize and direct the attack against the patient’s cancer. Program faculty are also in the process of developing several other clinical studies.

UNC Lineberger has established the Endometrial Cancer Center of Excellence to bring together cancer center faculty with a broad range of expertise to focus on endometrial cancer. We are committed to developing new treatment paradigms for endometrial cancer, a long understudied cancer, and improving patient outcomes.

The Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Program offers advanced multidisciplinary treatment and care for patients with gastrointestinal cancers, such as colon, liver, pancreatic, rectal and stomach cancers. Established in 1979, the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program is one of the oldest and largest referral centers in the state, combining the expertise of physicians from medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, thoracic surgery, transplant surgery, GI surgery, GI medicine, diagnostic radiology, surgical pathology, reconstructive surgery, and oncology nursing. In addition, collaboration within the UNC institution and throughout the nation ensures patients receive the most advanced specialty care for management of these complex diseases.

Older patients with cancer can be seen by both an expert in their type of cancer as well as a geriatric oncologist to maximize the quality of care for each individual. The Geriatric Oncology Program brings together expertise from across UNC to ensure the highest quality cancer care for older patients and to conduct research that furthers understanding of the factors affecting cancer treatment in the elderly. Program faculty also aim to educate medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty on issues related to geriatric oncology.

UNC Gynecologic Oncology takes a multidisciplinary approach to the care of women with pre-invasive (benign and in-situ) and invasive (malignant) gynecologic cancers. Our team includes the physicians and nurses from the gynecologic oncology service as well as radiation oncology and surgical pathology. Social services, psychiatry, pastoral services and other ancillary personnel provide support not only to our patients but also to their family members.

The Head and Neck Cancer Program offers a full range of leading-edge diagnostic and therapeutic techniques for the treatment of all benign and malignant tumors of the head and neck in adult and pediatric patients through a multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer. Our team consists of surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, diagnostic and interventional radiologists, dentists, epidemiologists, prosthetic specialists, nutritionists, speech and swallowing specialists, nurses and social workers. Our team of specialists brings expertise and understanding to these complex cancers where vital life functions may be affected.

The Leukemia Oncology Program at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center offers patients and referring physicians access to a complete range of both diagnostic and therapeutic services for the treatment of leukemia.

The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Lymphoma Oncology Program brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts from medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology, hematopathology, radiology, and stem cell transplant, to provide accurate diagnosis, staging, and latest therapies to patients diagnosed with lymphoma.

UNC’s Multiple Myeloma and Amyloidosis Program team manages multiple myeloma, amyloidosis and other plasma cell-related disorders such as solitary plasmacytoma, POEMS syndrome, monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance (MGUS), asymptomatic “smoldering” myeloma and Castleman’s disease. Our program offers patients and referring physicians access to a complete range of both diagnostic and therapeutic services for these disorders including advanced imaging, chemotherapy, the newest drugs through clinical trials, stem cell transplantation, radiation therapy and surgery where appropriate. Multiple specialists are part of our team in order to help select the best diagnostic, treatment, and supportive care plans, in order to improve our patients’ length and quality of life as much as possible.

The Neuro-oncology Program at UNC is committed to providing leading-edge, integrated specialty treatment for patients with brain and central nervous system tumors. Our multidisciplinary approach pools the expertise and resources of specialists in the fields of neurosurgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, neuropathology, neuroradiology, and endocrinology. This approach ensures both efficiency in diagnosing and treating patients and development of an optimal treatment plan. Our program offers the most up-to-date advances in diagnostic tools, surgical techniques, and medical and radiation therapies.

The Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence at UNC Lineberger brings together an outstanding group of researchers, clinicians and staff to provide excellent multidisciplinary patient care and generate research discoveries that can be translated into new, more effective approaches and ultimately, cures for pancreatic cancer.

The Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Program treats and cures children and adolescents with cancer and blood diseases through participation in both national and locally designed treatment protocols. Our program has active inpatient and outpatient services. In addition to on-site clinical activities, program members see patients in outreach settings through AHEC (Area Health Education Centers) clinics in Wilmington and Raleigh. In Chapel Hill, multidisciplinary clinics are dedicated to patients with hemophilia (through the Comprehensive Hemophilia Diagnostic and Treatment Center), sickle cell disease, brain tumors, late effects of anticancer therapy, as well as general hematology/oncology.

The The UNC Skin Cancer and Melanoma Program takes a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating patients with malignant melanoma. Our program provides the expertise of physicians from dermatology, nuclear medicine, surgical oncology, head and neck surgery, reconstructive surgery, pathology, radiation and medical oncology.

The Thoracic Oncology Program brings leading-edge multidisciplinary and compassionate care to patients with thoracic malignancies. Incorporating specialists from pulmonary medicine, surgery, medical and radiation oncology, thoracic radiology, pathology, and oncology nursing into a single patient care team, our team ensures that expertly developed care is individualized for each patient and delivered in a well-coordinated and caring manner.

The Urologic Oncology Program brings leading-edge multidisciplinary and compassionate care to diagnosing and treating cancers of the genitourinary system. We are a group of health care providers with many years of experience caring for these patients. Specialists from surgery, medicine, radiation therapy, radiology, pathology, and nursing form a dedicated patient care team and deliver individualized care in a coordinated and caring manner. We strive to provide comprehensive patient care that includes the newest research and treatment options. Our team aims to communicate openly with you, your loved ones, and other health care providers.

At the  Von Hippel-Lindau Clinical Care Center, UNC Healthcare has a long-standing tradition and culture of engaging in a multidisciplinary approach to managing complex medical problems. This approach is what is needed for evaluating and treating von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, a condition that can affect multiple organ systems. UNC was selected by the VHL Family Alliance as a VHL Clinical Care Center in January 2012, and joined the ranks of over 20 other Clinical Care Centers across the United States.

The Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is made up of an exceptional team of professionals who are committed to providing quality healthcare and access to the newest technology.