Meet the Experts

Dr. Matthew Hall

Lead Pediatric Radiation Oncologist with Miami Cancer Institute

Videos

Cyclotron in Radiotherapy for Cancer

Dr. Matthew Hall, Lead Pediatric Radiation Oncologist with Miami Cancer Institute, explains a cyclotron is a powerful magnet that helps speed the protons up and deliver them to the patient for treatment, because they need to be sped up to 2/3 the speed of light. He says proton therapy delivers damage to the DNA that causes it to die, but it can reduce the radiation exposure to surrounding tissues.

Proton Therapy with Other Forms of Treatment

Dr. Matthew Hall, Lead Pediatric Radiation Oncologist, says at the Miami Cancer Institute the approach has not been to sell just proton therapy, but it has been to identify the best form of radiation treatment for each individual patient. He explains he has a partnership with Nicholas Children's Hospital. "They have 10 pediatric oncologists, 3 pediatric neurosurgeons and the entire care team, but I am the one person they are missing and that's the pediatric radiation oncologist."

Science of Proton Therapy

Dr. Matthew Hall, Lead Pediatric Radiation Oncologist with Miami Cancer Institute, says proton therapy is an advanced form of cancer treatment that delivers radiation precisely to the area where it is needed. He also explains proton treatment helps eliminate the tumor to it never comes back. Proton therapy goes a certain distance and then it stops. "There is a significant decrease in collateral radiation damage compared to conventional radiation."

Life after Proton Therapy

Dr. Matthew Hall, Lead Pediatric Radiation Oncologist with Miami Cancer Institute, recommends to his patients right before they leave treatment and to go back to school or work to eat healthy, exercise, go to school, and never smoke. He says there is an abundance of evidence and the data surrounding proton therapy continues to grow, because since its inception more than a million patients have received proton therapy in the United States.

Proton Therapy Clinical Trials

Dr. Matthew Hall, Lead Pediatric Radiation Oncologist with Miami Cancer Institute, says in proton therapy, they are one of the most active segments from Baptist Hospital in the cancer program. "Every child who comes to radiation oncology with a curable brain tumor is a candidate for a clinical trial that we have open and ongoing right now." He points out the clinical trial is looking at volumetric changes within the brain, how the brain anatomy changes, and how the function of the brain changes over time as a consequence of radiation therapy.

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