Cancer Education Blog

Dr. Alexander is a medical oncologist/hematologist.

Two physicians shaped the course of Dr. Burton Alexander’s medical career, one starting at age 12 and the other when he was a first-year medical student. Their advice, boiled down to its most basic form: always be there for your patients. Always.

So, as a medical oncologist/hematologist, Dr. Alexander cares for patients with a wide variety of cancers and blood disorders at Virginia Oncology Associates (VOA) – including some of the most complex and rare conditions in the region – he answers calls and emails 24/7 on his cell phone.

Working with cancer patients is a gift. An honor. A challenge, of course, but one that brings Andrea Edwards great joy.

“There are hard days, but a lot of really good days, too,” says Edwards, a Physician Assistant (PA) and Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Supervisor at Virginia Oncology Associates. “My patients know that I’m beside them for every step of their journey. I’ve learned so much from them and am continuously humbled by their strength, perseverance and resiliency.”

Edwards is driven not only to help patients live their best, fullest lives but to pave the way for APP education, growth and development.

By David Z. Chang, MD,PhD, FACP

Recent developments in breast cancer treatment have continued to fuel our movement toward tailored treatment for each individual patient.

Two of the newest and most promising fronts are targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Both aim to more effectively kill cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue, thereby causing fewer debilitating side effects as compared to traditional chemotherapy.