Dr. Derek Tsang is a clinician-investigator in the Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. He completed his medical training at Queen’s University, followed by residency in radiation oncology at the University of Toronto. He obtained fellowship training in paediatric radiation oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Merchant, and completed a Masters’ degree in clinical epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He joined the Radiation Medicine Program in 2017 and is a member of the paediatric and adult central nervous system (CNS) tumour site groups.
"I’m so incredibly thankful for having the privilege of practicing something I’m the most passionate about, on a daily basis. Being a radiation oncologist means I get to treat cancer patients, primarily through radiation. I treat pediatric tumours as well as adults with brain tumours -- such as rhabdomyoma and leukemia at Princess Margaret Cancer Center and Toronto General Hospital.
Throughout my career as a radiation oncologist, I have had experiences with my clients that have stuck with me to this day. It’s so often that many Canadians are restricted in terms of getting the best healthcare possible for their family. In Canada, we only have photon radiation, which doesn’t do the best job of avoiding unnecessary radiation of body structures (especially for children). In comparison, the U.S. has developed proton radiation which is much safer. So I have to have a lot of talks with my patients about getting their treatment in the U.S. due to better facilities. Unfortunately, this is not always a viable option. The transfer of treatment, although funded by the ministry of health, requires the completion of hefty paperwork -- along with other deterring factors such as being sick right after brain surgery, personal issues, as well as financial difficulties. These stories for sure make it a little challenging at times in interacting with the families because you want to do the best for your patients, and yet you have a treatment that is pretty good but not quite the absolute best.
In terms of the future, some of my goals going forward comprise of ongoing work to determine when radiation is best used -- especially considering how harmful radiation can be to the bodily structures. I’m constantly working on trying to develop better tools at hand to tell us whether a child really does need radiation, and that if it is indeed the last resort left. As well, personalizing the use of radiation in an overall individualized treatment plan would be another goal that I’m working towards."
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