Treating Cancer Puts Multidisciplinary Team at Centre of Care in Johannesburg

A cancer diagnosis rarely arrives with a clear map, and for many South African families the first and hardest question is simply where to turn. A Johannesburg practice called Treating Cancer was created to answer that question with a single coordinated team that walks with each patient from the opening consultation through treatment and into the years that follow. It is led by Dr Prinitha Pillay, a specialist radiation oncologist, and it deliberately joins medical, surgical and radiation expertise under one roof so that patients are never left to stitch their own care together.

With August 2026 turning national attention toward prevention and early screening, Treating Cancer is drawing focus to what a multidisciplinary approach can offer people who have just been diagnosed or are still weighing their choices. Case numbers keep climbing and too many diagnoses come late, which only raises the value of clear guidance and thorough planning. By having a full team examine every case before a single treatment decision is settled, the practice sets out to strip away much of that early uncertainty.

A multidisciplinary team

Sitting at the core of the model is a team drawn from several disciplines: medical, surgical and radiation oncologists, a medical physicist, radiotherapists, specialised nurses and a nutritionist. Because each case passes in front of the whole group, no plan rests on a single viewpoint. Dr Pillay, a seasoned oncologist, assembles the medical detail the team requires, then weighs each option's risks, benefits and likely effect on a patient's quality of life. What results is a plan shaped to the individual instead of a fixed pathway applied to everyone.

The treatments on offer span the modern spectrum. Patients can access chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, brachytherapy, radiofrequency ablation, nuclear medicine and current surgical oncology methods. On the radiation side, the practice relies on advanced tools including external beam radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiotherapy and image-guided radiation therapy, all of which let a strong dose be moulded around a tumour while the healthy tissue nearby is spared. Everything is provided at state-of-the-art facilities fitted with up-to-date technology.

Access to treatment and cancer types

A wide range of cancers falls within the practice's reach, among them breast, gynaecological, gastrointestinal, thoracic, head and neck, genitourinary, neurological, bone, musculoskeletal, dermatological, ocular and paediatric cancers. That range lets patients and their referring doctors bring many different diagnoses to one place, confident that each will be weighed by specialists across the disciplines it touches.

Access and convenience were built into the design on purpose. Dr Pillay sees and treats patients at the facility they prefer, which helps hold down unnecessary costs, and the Johannesburg base is easy to reach whether someone is travelling from another province or from overseas. Treatment schedules can be shaped around the demands of work and home life, and patient information is kept confidential at every stage. Consultation hours run from 7am to 7pm.

The practice looks past the treatments alone to the reality of living with cancer. Supportive and nutritional care are written into the plan, and specialised nurses guide patients through the everyday demands of treatment. Rather than treating a disease in isolation, the practice describes its purpose as standing beside patients, framing its work around courage and dignity instead of illness.

Much of the practice's authority comes from Dr Pillay's record. Her qualifications include a BSc Hons and MBBCh from the University of the Witwatersrand, an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, an MMed from Wits and a Fellowship in Radiation Oncology of the College of Medicine of South Africa. Ahead of her oncology training she gave years to humanitarian medicine with Doctors Without Borders, serving in places as varied as Lesotho, Sudan, Sierra Leone and both cities and rural districts of South Africa, and she went on to lead Doctors Without Borders in South Africa as its President. The Mail and Guardian named her among its top ten Women in Health in 2011, and she later worked as a technical specialist on HIV and tuberculosis with Wits while campaigning for stronger access to care in rural communities.

Consultation and care coordination

For someone newly diagnosed, everything begins with a consultation in which Dr Pillay goes over the medical information already collected and sets out what the multidisciplinary review will cover. Referring doctors stay in the discussion throughout, and the practice builds its schedules around their needs as much as the patient's. The point of that coordination is to cut down the number of separate appointments a patient must attend and to keep everyone drawing from the same plan.

The weight placed on advanced radiation technology mirrors how far the field has moved. Methods such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy and image-guided radiation therapy allow a tumour to be targeted with greater precision, which can help shield nearby organs and tissue. Paired with chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy when the situation calls for it, this spread of options lets the team match treatment to the type and stage of each cancer rather than leaning on any one technique.

The thread of access runs through Dr Pillay's whole career, from her humanitarian postings to her push for rural health, and it still guides how the practice runs. By treating people at the facility they choose and keeping costs down wherever it can, Treating Cancer works to put specialist oncology within reach of those who might otherwise find it hard to travel or to pay for a long course of care.

For anyone looking for an oncologist in Johannesburg, the broader picture is worth holding in mind. Comprehensive, integrative cancer care that pulls several specialists into one shared plan is now widely seen as a sensible way to give patients a clear route through a difficult illness. Treating Cancer puts one-on-one relationships at the centre of that route, setting out to support not only the patient but also the family and friends travelling the road with them.

Patients, families and referring doctors can read the full picture of the practice, the cancers it handles and the treatments it provides on the Treating Cancer website at https://treatingcancer.co.za/.

About Treating Cancer

Treating Cancer is the Johannesburg practice of Dr Prinitha Pillay, a specialist radiation oncologist registered under practice number PR0876046. The practice delivers comprehensive, multidisciplinary cancer care that unites medical, surgical and radiation oncology with supportive services such as nursing and nutrition. Its treatments range across chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, brachytherapy and nuclear medicine, all provided at state-of-the-art facilities in South Africa.

Media Contact

Treating CancerEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Phone: +27 66 272 6582Website: https://treatingcancer.co.za