Brooke Spencer MD, MPH is a board-certified radiation oncologist with more than a decade of experience. We are excited to have her on the team at the McLaren Proton Therapy Center and the Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Flint.
Watching her mother bravely fight cancer inspired Dr. Spencer to become a radiation oncologist. She is driven to meet the needs of patients, especially when it comes to quality of life not only after, but during treatment.
“The goal is always to optimize treatment,” said Dr. Spencer. “The most rewarding part of my work as an oncologist is providing one of the most technologically advanced treatments -proton therapy- for patients who have cancer.”
Dr. Spencer completed an onsite proton therapy clinical training course at Penn Radiation Medical Institute in Philadelphia. She is a clinical investigator in several proton clinical trials that are currently open at Mclaren Proton Therapy Center.
After a suspicious area showed up on Cindy Gancarz’s routine mammogram, she was called back in for a breast ultrasound. “They seemed to be okay with the results, but they did want to see me again in six months,” Cindy said. “When I went to the McLaren Imaging Center in Flint for my next screening, the doctor decided to do a breast MRI to investigate further.” Breast MRI can often detect smaller masses that mammograms and ultrasounds may miss. In Cindy’s case, that is exactly what happened. “...
For 61 years, there has been one constant in Jim Stillwell’s life- his wife. When she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Jim knew what he needed to do. “I took vows and I meant them,” Jim said. “I do not want my wife in a nursing home. It is my job to take care of her.” It has not always been easy, but Jim’s commitment has never wavered, even when his own health took a scary turn a year ago. “My oncologist in Lansing called it an aggressive form of prostate cancer. That scared me,” Jim said. The pl...