By Jefferson M. Trupp, M.D., radiation oncologist at Alliance Cancer Care May is National Skin Cancer Awareness Month.  Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, with more cases annually than ALL other cancers combined.  There are 10,000 new skin cancers diagnosed every day.  Skin cancers can affect any skin…

By Ashlyn Seeley Everett, M.D., radiation oncologist at Alliance Cancer Care Esophageal cancer is relatively rare, making up about 1% of cases of cancer in the United States.  There are about 19,000 new cases diagnosed every year.  However, esophageal cancer also accounts for 15,000 deaths annually, with relatively poor survival rates at five years.  Esophageal…

By Hoyt A. “Tres” Childs, III, M.D., radiation oncologist at Alliance Cancer Care April is Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month.  Most head and neck cancers form in the lining of the mouth, throat, or voice box and are typically squamous cell carcinomas, although there are other less common types.  This group of cancers are…

What is your role at Alliance Cancer Care, and how long have you worked here?  What type of cancers do you treat? I’m one of the radiation oncologists at Alliance Cancer Care. I have been here for 22 years, which makes me the “old guy” on campus. Because I am the most senior radiation oncologist, I…

By Ashlyn Seeley Everett, M.D., radiation oncologist at Alliance Cancer Care What is National Kick Butts Day?  Since 1996, this event has been held to decrease youth smoking rates and advocate for policies to protect our youth from tobacco.  Unfortunately, with the decline of cigarette use, there has been a trend of increasing use of…

By Ashlyn Seeley Everett, M.D., radiation oncologist at Alliance Cancer Care If you are 45 years or older, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force now recommends you to have annual colorectal screening.  In 2021, the screening age was lowered from age 50 to age 45 due to an increased number of colorectal cancer cases in…

By Ashlyn Seeley Everett, M.D., radiation oncologist at Alliance Cancer Care Patient Safety Awareness Week, an annual celebration of patient safety and quality improvement initiatives, takes place this week, March 14-18.  Alliance Cancer Care is committed to providing the North Alabama communities with state-of-the-art radiation treatment.  Our team of physicians, physicists, dosimetrists, therapists, and nurses…

By John F. “Jack” Gleason, Jr., M.D, radiation oncologist at Alliance Cancer Care As a radiation oncologist, I am frequently asked to help care for patients who have brain metastases (mets). The first question is of course “what is a brain metastasis?” Metastasis (1) or metastases (more than 1) are tumors that have started in…

By Traci Cole McCormick, M.D., radiation oncologist at Alliance Cancer Care 30 minutes a day. 3 or 4 days a week. That is all it takes to drastically reduce your risk of cancer, reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes, and improve your overall health, but I’m a cancer doc, so we will focus…