Rhode Island Hospital
Online Newsroom
 David
Wazer, MD
David Wazer, MD, is a nationally recognized specialist in the treatment
of breast, gastrointestinal, melanoma and central nervous system
cancers. He is chief of the departments of radiation
oncology at Rhode Island Hospital. He is also a professor and
chairman of the department of radiation oncology at Brown Medical
School.
Among his wide experience in high-tech medicine for the treatment
of cancer is the use of Intensity
Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), high dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy,
and stereotactic
radiosurgery. Since 2002, he has performed Mammosite radiation
on post-lumpectomy patients, a technique that considerably shortens
the time necessary for radiation treatments. His specialties include
the treatment of melanoma and gastrointestinal carcinoma. He is
also an expert in intraoperative brachytherapy, a process done collaboratively
with surgeons to insert tubes that hold radioactive sources in regions
where tumors cannot be removed, and conformal 3-D therapy, a sophisticated
irradiation technique that delivers a high dose of radiation to
a tumor while protecting the adjacent normal tissues utilizing imaging
technology.
Wazer, a radiation pioneer, actively conducts cancer research and
has been instrumental in bringing the latest radiation oncology
technology to southern New England. In 2001, Rhode Island Hospital
began offering IMRT, before most hospitals in New England. In 2002,
Rhode Island Hospital was the first in New England to offer mammosite
brachytherapy following its FDA approval, a direct offshoot of the
related breast brachytherapy treatment developed at Rhode Island
Hospital. In 2003, Rhode Island Hospital became the first to treat
lung cancer with a combination treatment of radiofrequency ablation
and HDR brachytherapy, and is now leading a national clinical trial
to test the efficacy of this treatment.
Wazer continues to seek out the most advanced treatments available
for cancer, bringing several new technologies to Rhode Island Hospital
this year. The Trilogy
linear accelerator, which delivers highly sophisticated image-guided
radiation therapy, is now available at Rhode Island Hospital, along
with robotic prostate brachytherapy. And Xoft brachytherapy, which
will be used to treat breast and gynecological cancers, will be
available immediately following its FDA clearance.
Wazer has been active in local, national and international societies.
In 2004, he assumed the role of editor-in-chief of the American
Journal of Clinical Oncology. He is the author of more than
100 publications and has contributed to numerous textbooks, book
chapters, monographs and review articles. He holds a bachelor's
degree from Holy Cross College, and a medical degree from the New
York University School of Medicine.
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