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As a leader in cancer research, Karmanos is able to offer patients access to innovative treatments and clinical trials that are often times not available anywhere else.
To offer hope and longer life to patients with all types of cancer, Karmanos offers the latest types of therapy through our clinical trials program. Through clinical trials, we are creating new knowledge about how therapies fight cancer and provide national leadership in testing these new therapies.
We understand that cancer is a complex disease that demands complex care. We provide each patient with a dynamic, carefully constructed treatment plan focused on their specific cancer and their unique needs.
We listen to you to design a plan that provides you with respect, compassionate care and is responsive to your emotional and practical concerns.
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Hesham Gayar, M.D., a board certified radiation oncologist, is Medical Director for the McLaren Proton Therapy Center, part of the Karmanos Cancer Network. He also serves as Vice President for the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG) -North American Chapter and as a board member and Steering Committee member for PTCOG worldwide. His involvement in proton therapy also includes membership on the Executive Committee of the Proton Collaborative Group Medical Societies and as a member of the World Forum on Particle Therapy Strategic Planning for 2030. He holds numerous leadership positions at McLaren, including serving as chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at McLaren Flint, Associate Medical Director of the Karmanos Cancer Institutes at McLaren Flint and Lapeer, Chairman of the Research Advisory Board at McLaren Health Care, and Chairman of the Karmanos Cancer Institute Clinical Leadership Council.
Dr. Gayar earned his medical degree from the Alexandria School of Science in Egypt and completed a residency at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York and a fellowship at Ohio State University. He also completed training in proton therapy at the Paul Scherrer Institute. He is past president of the Board of Directors of the Genesee County Medical Society, a RTOG Principal Investigator with the Michigan State Medical Society, an American College of Surgeons Liaison Physician and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Cancer Terminator Foundation.
When Lindsey Danias started having pain in her left breast, she did not think much of it at first. “I felt a large cyst, but I did not decide to get it checked out until the pain became unbearable and my breast felt hot,” said Lindsey. “Cancer had not crossed my mind. No one in my immediate family ever had breast cancer.” The 35-year-old’s doctor did not want to take any chances and sent Lindsey for a mammogram. “At that point, I was preparing myself for the worst,” Lindsey said. “I had started to plan ...
Steve Thomashefski got prostate cancer screenings regularly for years, then one day, his doctor surprised him. “My doctor said there was a chance I could have cancer,’” Steve said. “My PSA (prostate specific antigen) number jumped significantly in two years.” Further testing revealed Steve did, in fact, have prostate cancer, and his treatment options were somewhat limited. “The oncologist said because of my age, and because the cancer was on the outside of the prostate, surgery was not an option,” Steve...
In 2018, Mary Jo Dorotinsky learned she had cancer in her right breast. “I actually went in for a mammogram a few months late when they discovered a very small tumor,” Mary Jo said. “It felt like fate. The doctor told me that if I had gone in on schedule, they might have missed the lump because it was so small.” Mary Jo had a lumpectomy and traditional photon radiation to treat the stage one cancer. When her treatments were over, her doctor recommended Mary Jo alternate between a mammogram and MRI...
Hersham Gayar, M.D., discusses the advantage of McLaren's Proton Therapy Center, which is part of the Karmanos Cancer Network.