Dr Marlene Soares

Dr Soares graduated with her Bachelor of Medicine (MBChB) in Pretoria in 2003. After doing her internship at Johannesburg General Hospital, she completed a year of community service at Ermelo Hospital in 2005.

Following this, Dr Soares chose to specialise in radiotherapy and completed her Master of Medicine (MMED) in Radiation Oncology at the University of Pretoria in 2010. In the same year, she was awarded her FC RAD ONC (SA) qualification from the Colleges of Medicine South Africa. For the next two years, Dr Soares consulted in radiation oncology at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. She joined de Mûelenaere Oncology Group (DMO) as an associate in 2013.

Dr Soares is actively involved in the Pretoria Breast Cancer Multidisciplinary Forum and her main area of interest is breast cancer. A mother of two, Dr Soares also has a special interest in paediatric radiation oncology and is a member of the Paediatric Radiation Oncology Society (PROS), an organisation that works to set an international standard of excellence in oncology aspects of the care of children and adolescents with cancer, to provide a forum for professional communication between radiation oncologists, and to exchange information with all parties involved in the management of both paediatric and adolescent cancer.

She also specialises in gynaecological cancers, with a focus on brachytherapy treatment, a type of radiation treatment that involves the delivery of high doses of radiation to specific areas of the body. The procedure can be used to treat a number of types of cancer, including cancers of the brain, breast, head, neck, pancreas, prostate and skin, among others. Dr Soares is able to perform both intracavity brachytherapy, in which a device that contains radioactive material, such as a tube or cylinder, is placed inside a body cavity; and interstitial brachytherapy, where a device containing radioactive material is placed into the body tissue, such as the breast or prostate. The radioactive material may be contained in tiny seeds or wires, which are inserted into the tissue with the use of special applicators. In some cases, the material may be administered through catheters.

Dr Soares currently practises at Groenkloof Radiation Oncology and Mûelmed Radiation Oncology.