Pablo Lavagnini, MD – Director of Radiation Oncology
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“At Cancer Treatment Centers of America, care is truly centered around the patient. Anything that will contribute to making patients feel better, we try to make available here,” says Dr. Pablo Lavagnini. Dr. Lavagnini serves as the Director of Radiation Oncology at CTCA at Eastern Regional Medical Center.
A board-certified radiation oncologist, Dr. Lavagnini earned a medical degree from the University of Uruguay Medical School in Montevideo, Uruguay, followed by post-graduate medical studies in anesthesiology. After medical school, Dr. Lavagnini completed a fellowship in pain management at the National Tumor Institute in Milan, Italy.
Dr. Lavagnini then moved to the United States and completed a residency in radiation oncology at New York Medical College, St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he was Chief Resident. He went on to complete a residency in radiation oncology and a fellowship in radiobiology and hyperthermia at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
Subsequently, Dr. Lavagnini spent six years as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology and Chairman of Quality Assurance at Mount Sinai University Hospital. He also served as Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology and Chairman of Quality Assurance at Cornell-Columbia Universities, The New York Hospital. There, he organized and directed the Stereotactic Radiotherapy Service and the Gynecologic Radiotherapy Service.
In 2000, Dr. Lavagnini was transferred to Italy, where he worked for five years as a radiation oncologist for the public health system in Ferrara and Genoa. He was also a consultant for prostate brachytherapy at Princess Grace Hospital in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He then spent two years as Director of the Radiation Oncology Department in Multimedical Center, a private hospital rendering services for the public health system, in Milan, Italy.
Prior to joining CTCA, Dr. Lavagnini served as Clinical Director of the Radiation Oncology Department at Chesapeake Radiation Center in Bel Air, Maryland.
Beginning in 1991, Dr. Lavagnini has contributed to the development and diffusion of the technique for prostate brachytherapy. He taught and trained colleagues in the prostate brachytherapy technique in over 10 western European countries—from the UK to Greece, and from Finland to Spain.
Dr. Lavagnini has also published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals. He co-authored “ESTRO-EAU-EORTC recommendations on permanent seed implantation for localized prostate cancer” in Radiotherapy and Oncology. He was also a member of the 2006 European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) Scientific Committee.
In December 2008, Dr. Lavagnini passed up three other opportunities to join CTCA. “CTCA was the only place that had the holistic approach that everyone else said they wished they had, but nobody had achieved yet,” he says.
“At CTCA, we have a wide array of tools, which allows us to tailor the therapy to the individual patient and the individual tumor. That’s the message that’s most important for all cancer patients,” says Dr. Lavagnini.
According to Dr. Lavagnini, it’s this individualized approach to treatment, along with advanced technology, that allows the targeted delivery of radiation at appropriate doses to make a difference in the lives of patients treated with radiation therapy.
When asked what he likes best about working at CTCA, Dr. Lavagnini says it is the satisfaction he receives each day from patients. “Patients tell us they notice that everything that can be done for them is being given to them here at CTCA.”
