Health care professionals advance cancer care close to home
Medical experts at health care systems across the region continue to advance cancer care with a patient-centered focus, the latest therapy options and innovative research.
“In January of 2020, the university decided to create a new cancer center, which we have named University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, and our goal is to become an NCI designated cancer center. We’ve outlined a timeline of five to seven years for that to happen,” says Dr. Syed Ahmad, co-director of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center.
There are 71 NCI Centers in the country. In simplistic terms, NCI Centers are centers that align their clinical care, research, community outreach and educational mission, specifically for the patients they serve, he says.
“Nobody wants this diagnosis of cancer, but if you have to face this adversary, we want Cincinnati to be the very best place in the world to be,” adds Dr. William Barrett, who serves as co-director of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center with Ahmad.
Other health care systems across the city continue to focus on state-of-the-art cancer care by providing early screenings and advanced treatment options.
Dr. Leanne Budde, a thoracic lung cancer specialist at TriHealth, says as part of the Lung Cancer Screening Program at TriHealth Cancer Center, patients can receive Low Dose CT Scans on an annual basis, which help to detect cancer earlier.
“When patients are found to have lung cancer at an early stage, they are more likely to be able to have surgery for the lung cancer and to be cured of the disease,” Budde says.
She says lung cancer is the No. 1 cause of cancer deaths in the United States. “That’s why we want to screen for it so we can try to catch it earlier, when patients have a better chance of being cured,” Budde says. “Without a doubt, lung cancer screenings save lives. Often, when people have symptoms, their cancer is more advanced.”
The Christ Hospital Health Network recently reached an important milestone when it comes to advanced screenings for early lung cancer detection to improve cancer survival outcomes.
“The fortunate circumstance is that we have a dedicated lung nodule clinic here at The Christ Hospital,” says Dr. Vishal Jivan, a pulmonologist at the Lung Nodule Clinic at The Christ Hospital. “We are one of the first in the region to have a Monarch Navigational Bronchoscope.”
The Monarch improves the reach, vision and control for bronchoscopy procedures—including biopsies, he says.
“At Christ, we’ve hit our 50th case mark,” Jivan says. “I’ve felt that I’ve been able to provide patients with the near accuracy of giving them results that very day of the biopsy that we did find cancer, or we didn’t find cancer.”
The Jewish Hospital – Mercy Health recently completed the construction of a new infusion and cancer care outpatient suite. The more than 15,000-square-foot outpatient infusion suite expands the services that are available from The Jewish Hospital — Mercy Health Cincinnati Cancer and Cellular Therapy Center, the first adult bone marrow transplant unit in the region.
“Now that we have these dedicated rooms, it’s much easier to be able treat patients. We put them in a room like one that they would be in if they were in an inpatient setting, except it’s a chair, instead of a bed. They receive the same level of care by the same care team that they would have if they were inpatient, but they are able to go home at night and sleep in their own bed,” says Kitty Tierney, director-oncology service line, Cincinnati Region, for Mercy Health.
This special section is brought to you by:
