Dr. Torunn I. Yock is the Program Director for the Pediatric Radiation Oncology Program within the Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute (MGBCI) and specializes in both pediatric tumors and breast cancer.
Dr. Torunn Yock earned her MD from Harvard Medical School and a Master of Community Health from the University of New South Wales in Sydney as a Fulbright Scholar. She completed her residency in Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she joined the faculty in 2003 and was promoted to Professor in 2019. Her clinical practice includes both pediatric cancer patients and patients with breast cancer.
Dr. Yock is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in pediatric radiation oncology. A pioneer in pediatric proton radiotherapy, she established and leads the Pediatric Proton/Photon Consortium Registry (PPCR), the first U.S.-based multi-institutional (and now multi-national) registry in pediatric radiation oncology. Her work has been instrumental in establishing proton therapy as a standard of care for children with brain tumors and sarcomas.
Dr. Yock has held numerous national leadership roles, including with the Children's Oncology Group, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the American Board of Radiology, and the National Association of Proton Therapy. She was elected a Fellow of ASTRO in 2019. She has also served on advisory boards for the Massachusetts Cancer/SEER Registry and the National Childhood Cancer Registry and collaborates with the National Cancer Institute on multiple registry and large cohort-based studies. Widely recognized for her expertise in registries and outcomes research, Dr. Yock is now working to incorporate AI powered technology to streamline data collection processes. She has received multiple grants and NIH contracts. She is known for her collaborative leadership and dedication to advancing care and outcomes for pediatric cancer patients.
Clinical Interests:
Treats:
Massachusetts General Hospital
55 Fruit St.
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-0976
Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute at Emerson Hospital
131 Old Rd. To Nine Acre Corner
John Cuming Building
Concord, MA 01742
Phone: 978-287-3290
Medical Education
American Board Certifications
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Dr. Yock is currently the director of Pediatric Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital which is the largest pediatric proton program in the world, having treated over 1700 pediatric proton patients. As the primary investigator of 6 prospective proton protocols, her research focuses on quantifying the late effects and Health-Related Quality of Life in pediatric cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. In addition, Dr. Yock is leading a successful multi-site pediatric radiation registry, the Pediatric Proton/Photon Consortium Registry (PPCR), in which over 2600 patients have been enrolled and receives support from NCI, and internal funding and some industry support as well. Dr. Yock's career has focused on measuring health outcomes to further improve upon cure rates and the quality of the survivorship in pediatric cancer patients and applying big data principles to research repositories. Her research has focused on the role of proton radiotherapy in pediatric cancer and both its power to mitigate late effects in our childhood cancer survivors, but also its potential pitfalls.
Yock TI, Yeap BY, Ebb DH, Weyman E, Eaton BR, Sherry NA, Jones RM, MacDonald SM, Pulsifer MB, Lavally B, Abrams AN, Huang MS, Marcus KJ, Tarbell NJ. Long-term toxic effects of proton radiotherapy for paediatric medulloblastoma: a phase 2 single-arm study. Lancet Oncol. 2016 Mar;17(3):287-98.
Vatner RE, Niemierko A, Misra M, Weyman E, Goebel C, Ebb D, Jones R, Huang M, Mahajan A, Grosshans D, Paulino A, Stanley T, MacDonald SM, Tarbell NJ, Yock TI. Endocrine deficiency as a function of radiation dose to the hypothalamus and pituitary in pediatric and young adult patients with brain tumors. J Clin Oncol. 2018 Oct 1;36(28):2854-2862.
Eaton BR, Esiashvili N, Kim S, Patterson B, Weyman EA, Thornton LT, Mazewski C, MacDonald TJ, Ebb D, MacDonald SM, Tarbell NJ, Yock TI. Endocrine outcomes with proton and photon radiotherapy for standard risk medulloblastoma. Neuro Oncol. 2016 Jun; 18(6): 881-7.
Ladra ML, Szymonifka J, Mahajan A, Friedmann AM, Yeap BY, Goebel C, MacDonald SM, Grosshans D, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Marcus KJ, Tarbell NJ, Yock TI. Preliminary results of a Phase II Trial of proton radiotherapy for pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma. J Clin Oncol. 2014 Nov 20;32(33):3762-70.
Kuhlthau K, Pulsifer MB, Yeap BY, Morales DR, Delahaye J, Hill KS, Ebb D, Abram A, MacDonald SM, Tarbell NJ, Yock TI, A prospective study of health-related quality of life for children with brain tumors treated with proton radiotherapy. J Clin Oncol. 2012 Jun 10;30(17):2079-86. PMID: 22565004
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