Susan McDuff, MD, PhD
Radiation Oncologist
My Locations
Part of the Duke Cancer Institute
About Me
I specialize in helping women with breast cancer. Being diagnosed with cancer is a life-altering experience that can affect every aspect of one’s life. I decided to become a radiation oncologist because of the privilege it is to care for patients in an incredibly challenging time in their lives. My approach to patient care is to spend a lot of time getting to know patients and learning about their lives and values. I also spend a lot of time behind the scenes carefully evaluating their tests and working with my colleagues in medical oncology and surgical oncology to develop recommendations for the best treatment plan. Working as a team, we are able to help cure patients through combined multimodality treatments or help ease their symptoms.
- Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, Radiation Oncology 2021
- Member of the Duke Cancer Institute, Duke Cancer Institute 2021
Call for an Appointment
Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
Clinical Focus and Research
At Duke Health, we are constantly trying to improve outcomes through research for patients with breast cancer, both in terms of improving cancer cure and minimizing treatment toxicity. I work with a group of other breast cancer specialists to conduct clinical trials and on projects designed to personalize cancer therapy.
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TAILOR-RT for Low-Risk Breast CancerIRB# PRO00116773 , NCT# NCT03488693
- Karukonda, P., A. Y. Ho, and S. McDuff. “Pre-operative Radiation and Immunotherapy in the Treatment of Non-metastatic Breast Cancer.” Current Breast Cancer Reports 15, no. 3 (September 1, 2023): 213–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12609-023-00507-0.
- Nash, A. L., S. Wang, S. McDuff, and E. S. Hwang. “De-escalation in DCIS Care.” Current Breast Cancer Reports 15, no. 1 (March 1, 2023): 58–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12609-023-00475-5.
- McDuff, Susan G. R., and Rachel C. Blitzblau. “Optimizing Adjuvant Treatment Recommendations for Older Women with Biologically Favorable Breast Cancer: Short-Course Radiation or Long-Course Endocrine Therapy?” Curr Oncol 30, no. 1 (December 27, 2022): 392–400. https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol30010032.
- McDuff, Susan, Colin Champ, Sua Yoo, and Rachel Blitzblau. “Breast Cancer.” In Kahn’s Treatment Planning in Radiation Oncology, edited by Paul Sperduto and John Gibbons. Wolters Kluwer, 2022.
- McDuff, Susan, Colin Champ, Sua Yoo, and Rachel Blitzblau. “Breast Cancer.” In Kahn’s Treatment Planning in Radiation Oncology, edited by Paul Sperduto and John Gibbons. Wolters Kluwer, 2022.
- McDuff, S. G. R., and C. M. Yashar. “Radiation Therapy in Gynecologic Cancer.” In Gynecologic Oncology, 289–334. Springer, 2015.
- Yang, D., C. Murr, S. Yoo, L. O’Neill, S. Catalano, R. C. Blitzblau, S. McDuff, F. F. Yin, Q. J. J. Wu, and Y. Sheng. “Prospective Clinical Integration of AI Based Treatment Planning Tool for Whole Breast Radiation Therapy (WBRT): A Single Institution's Three-Year Experience.” In INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY BIOLOGY PHYSICS, 114:S33–S33, 2022.
- Plichta, Jennifer Kay, Samantha M. Thomas, Sarah Sammons, Susan G. R. McDuff, Gayle DiLalla, Gretchen Genevieve Kimmick, and Eun-Sil Shelley Hwang. “Survival among patients with untreated metastatic breast cancer.” In Journal of Clinical Oncology, 39:1095–1095. American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), 2021. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2021.39.15_suppl.1095.
- Yoo, S., Y. Sheng, R. C. Blitzblau, S. McDuff, C. E. Champ, L. O’Neill, S. Catalano, J. Morrison, F. F. Yin, and Q. J. J. Wu. “Clinical Experience of the Machine Learning-based Automated Treatment Planning Tool for Breast Radiotherapy.” In INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY BIOLOGY PHYSICS, 108:E261–E261, 2020.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.