CanThera Cancer Therapy Center recently opened on Sonterra Boulevard in Stone Oak, across from the new Methodist hospital that is currently being constructed. Owned by Irene Kazhdan, MD, PhD, this state-of-the-art facility offers diagnosis and treatment for various types of cancers. CanThera also has its own in-house lab and pharmacy for mixing the medications used in chemo-therapy.

CanThera offers a setting and environment that is quite different from most medical offices. The difference is noticeable even before entering the center. A man-made stone fish pond wraps around the front door. A soothing water feature is the center-piece of the lobby area. Each exam room has a fish tank on the wall and the large chemo room has a 7-foot long fish tank filled with colorful tropical fish. Patients can also watch videos on their personal DVD players while reclining in lounge chairs equipped with back massagers. “Our center is designed to create a warm and secure environment for the patients and staff to work together as a team. We believe that the treatment environment should also be conducive to the healing process,” states Dr. Irene Kazhdan, the president of CanThera.

After spending six years at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as a Clinical Instructor and Assistant Professor, Dr. Kazhdan recently decided to use her experience and expertise in private practice. “CanThera is the result of a dream becoming a reality,” says Dr. Kazhdan. “We want to take the best of technology, research and clinical knowledge and combine it with individualized personal care.”

Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, Dr. Kazhdan came to the United States in 1991 after earning her medical degree and PhD. She was an Internal Medicine resident at Pennsylvania Hospital and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania before completing her Medical Oncology Fellowship at UTHSCSA in 2002.

Each cancer is unique and, therefore, each cancer patient is unique. “The treatment approach for each cancer patient has to be tailored to the individual. The arsenal of cancer therapies is growing and expanding every day. Our task is to pull together the right combination of treatment therapies to fight each patient’s cancer,” said Dr. Kazhdan.