Few journeys feel as disorienting as a new cancer diagnosis, and in South Africa the sheer number of appointments, specialists and choices can leave families unsure of their very first move. A Johannesburg practice called Treating Cancer was founded to answer that confusion with something straightforward: a single, coordinated team that walks with each patient from the opening consultation through treatment and the months that follow. At its helm is Dr Prinitha Pillay, a specialist radiation oncologist who unites medical, surgical and radiation expertise under one roof so patients are spared the task of stitching together their own care.
With August 2026 turning national attention toward prevention and early screening, Treating Cancer is using the moment to underline how much a multidisciplinary approach can offer those who have just been diagnosed or are still weighing their choices. Rising case numbers and frequent late diagnoses have made clear guidance and thorough treatment planning more essential than they have ever been. To strip away some of that uncertainty, the practice has every case examined by the full team before a single treatment decision is settled.
Sitting at the core of the model is a multidisciplinary team drawing together medical, surgical and radiation oncologists, a medical physicist, radiotherapists, specialised nurses and a nutritionist. Because this group reviews every case, no plan rests on a single viewpoint. Dr Pillay, an experienced oncologist, assembles the medical information the team requires, then weighs the risks and benefits of each route and considers how it might shape a patient’s quality of life. What emerges is a plan fitted to the person, not a standard pathway applied to everyone.
The range of modern treatments open to patients is wide. It spans chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, brachytherapy, radiofrequency ablation, nuclear medicine and current surgical oncology techniques. 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 protected. Everything is delivered at state-of-the-art facilities fitted with up-to-date technology.
A great many cancers fall within the practice’s scope, among them breast, gynaecological, gastrointestinal, thoracic, head and neck, genitourinary, neurological, bone, musculoskeletal, dermatological, ocular and paediatric cancers. That range lets patients and referring doctors bring many different diagnoses to one place, confident that each case will be weighed by specialists across the disciplines it touches.
Ease of access was built into the model on purpose. Dr Pillay sees and treats patients at the facility they prefer, which helps keep needless costs down, and the Johannesburg base is easy to reach for anyone travelling from other parts of the country or from overseas. Treatment schedules can be arranged flexibly for those balancing time away from work or home, and patient information stays confidential at every stage. Consultations run from 7am to 7pm.
The practice looks past the treatments alone to the lived reality of cancer. Supportive and nutritional care are woven into the plan, and specialised nurses help patients cope with the everyday demands of treatment. Rather than treating a disease in isolation, the practice describes its purpose as standing shoulder to shoulder with patients, casting its work in terms of courage and dignity instead of illness.
Much of the practice’s standing traces back to Dr Pillay’s own record. She earned a BSc Hons and MBBCh at the University of the Witwatersrand, an MSc at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, an MMed at Wits and a Fellowship in Radiation Oncology of the College of Medicine of South Africa. Ahead of her move into oncology she gave years to humanitarian medicine with Doctors Without Borders, serving in places as varied as Lesotho, Sudan, Sierra Leone and both city and rural South Africa, and she went on to be President of Doctors Without Borders in South Africa. In 2011 the Mail and Guardian named her among its top ten Women in Health, and she later served as a technical specialist on HIV and tuberculosis with Wits while pressing for stronger access to care in rural communities.
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 entail. Referring doctors stay part of the discussion, and the practice shapes its schedules to accommodate them as well as the patient. The point of that coordination is to cut down the number of separate visits a patient must make and to keep everyone aligned on a shared plan.
The focus on advanced radiation technology mirrors just how far the field has moved. Approaches such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy and image-guided radiation therapy allow a tumour to be targeted with greater precision, which can help spare the organs and tissue around it. Paired with chemotherapy, targeted therapy and 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 method.
Access to care has run like a thread through Dr Pillay’s career, from her humanitarian postings to her advocacy for rural health, and it still guides how the practice runs today. By treating patients at the facility they choose and holding costs down wherever it can, Treating Cancer works to put specialist oncology within reach of people who might otherwise find it hard to travel or to pay for a long course of treatment.
For anyone looking for an oncologist in Johannesburg, the broader picture is worth keeping in mind. Comprehensive, integrative cancer care that lines up several specialists behind a single plan is winning recognition as a sensible way to give patients a clear route through a complicated illness. Treating Cancer builds that route on one-on-one relationships, setting out to support not just the patient but 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 treats and its treatment options 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 span 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 Cancer
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +27 66 272 6582
Website: https://treatingcancer.co.za
