The day after Dale Johnson first tried acupuncture, he felt pretty good. Then the day after that, he felt even better. He’d been going through radiation treatment for prostate cancer at Northwest Cancer Clinic in Kennewick, and it was taking a toll.
Dr. Brian Lawenda, the practice’s newest physician, is an integrative oncologist — the only one in all of Washington. He’s Harvard-trained in radiation oncology, and also is a Stanford/UCLA-trained medical acupuncturist. Plus, he’s an expert in other complementary therapies. That means he provides radiation treatment to patients like Johnson, but also offers acupuncture, along with nutrition and exercise counseling and the like.
With integrative oncology, the idea is to not only treat cancer and optimize outcomes, but also reduce the risk of recurrence, make treatment more tolerable by minimizing side effects and symptoms, and empower patients, Lawenda said. The practice has proven benefits, and he’s excited to bring it to the Tri-Cities, he said.
Dr. Brian Lawenda of Northwest Cancer Clinic in Kennewick explains how as an integrative oncologist he blends traditional medical treatments with other scientifically supported treatments, such as acupuncture, for a holistic approach to treating
