Nolan Alexander (Host): Jefferson Healthcare recently opened its new radiation-oncology clinics. And with new radiation-oncologist, Dr. Sabrina Prime, Jefferson Healthcare now offers comprehensive oncology care for East Jefferson County. What does it mean to have comprehensive oncology care? And why is this important to East Jefferson County?

 We'll explore that and some more on To Your Health. I'm Nolan Alexander. And today, I'm joined by Dr. Sabrina Prime. Dr. Prime, how are you today?

Sabrina Prime, MD: I'm doing so well. Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Host: We're so excited to talk about this new venture with you. Can you let us know what is now available and how did the new radiation-oncology clinics at Jefferson Healthcare enhance cancer treatment options for patients?

Sabrina Prime, MD: Jefferson County has been able to offer patients over the last several years access to oncology services, which means patients are able to have their infusions of chemotherapies, immunotherapies right here at home. They've also been able to provide a number of oncologic surgeries, things like lumpectomies for breast cancer, evaluations with urologists, et cetera, for prostate cancer, and biopsies for other types of cancer.

Bringing radiation-oncology here to Jefferson County means that for patients that are requiring radiation as a portion of their cancer care are now going to be able to have these treatments right here in East Jefferson County. I always like to stress that this is a really important piece because for people who are receiving chemotherapy or having surgeries, a lot of those times those patients aren't having to come on a daily basis to have those things done. Whereas radiation is a little different. You get a small amount of radiation every day. So, patients are having to come every day anywhere from a week at a time to upwards of seven weeks at a time to have those treatments. So, bringing this service here to Jefferson County is really incredible for the community and for the patients that are going to need that type of care.

Host: It sounds like that frequency in the location can certainly make a difference in treatment.

Sabrina Prime, MD: Absolutely. We always trust this too because patients who are undergoing cancer care have a lot of side effects from the treatments that they're receiving. One of them being fatigue. It's a general side effect. I usually tell patients it's not a fatigue where you can't get out of bed, but it is a fatigue where you want to take a nap in the middle of the day or go to bed a little bit early. Most patients will experience this and when you add travel time on top of that for daily radiation treatments, it can really add up for patients. So, I think this will be a big change in the quality of life for patients who are requiring radiation-oncology care here in Jefferson County.

Host: That's a key detail, and you just painted that picture really well of what that looks like on a day-to-day basis with fatigue. Can you explain more what comprehensive oncology care entails and why is it so vital for this community?

Sabrina Prime, MD: Right. Comprehensive really means taking care of the patient as a whole. So when I talk about comprehensive oncology services, I'm thinking about the surgical services, i'm thinking about the medical-oncology services, I'm thinking about radiation-oncology, but I'm also thinking about other supportive services like nutrition, like palliative care, like physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, which are now all services that we're able to offer here at Jefferson County. Again, a lot of these supportive services are really important for survivorship. And then, having that ability to follow up at home with your other oncologic providers like your medical-oncologist, your radiation-oncologist, and your surgical oncologist are really important. Both because right location, if it's close to you, you're more able to complete those followups, which again, are really, really important as we're monitoring people after they've finished their course of treatment for their cancer.

Host: It sounds like that level of communication and teamwork forms synergy in the treatment process.

Sabrina Prime, MD: Absolutely. And having them all under one roof really makes a lot of sense and it makes it a lot easier to coordinate care across the different specialties as well.

Host: What have you found that people sometimes get wrong or maybe they don't quite understand when it comes to oncology care?

Sabrina Prime, MD: I think for me, as I've approached patients, it's really understanding who the key players are in the management of their care. So, understanding that we each play an important role and kind of have different things in mind when we think about their cancer, because our training is a little bit different.

So for radiation-oncology, I think a lot about the structures that are nearby, the area that I'm going to be needing to treat. And I talk to them a lot about the side effects they might experience during the course of their treatment because of where I am treating. Whereas in medical-oncology, they might also be thinking truly about where that focal side of cancer is, but also thinking about the more systemic changes that the chemotherapies can have on them.

And then, also, the appropriate follow-up timelines, right? These are patients that we want to see enter survivorship and the timeline in which that we want to see them back for those follow-ups.

Host: With this now opening in 2025, how is this capitalizing on advancements in radiation-oncology and technology?

Sabrina Prime, MD: There was never a better time to have radiation-oncology than today. The advancements in technology and radiation-oncology specifically have been tremendous. Truly, I could say the same thing in medical-oncology too, with the advent of immunotherapies. But in radiation-oncology, greater and greater technological advancements have allowed us to really create a larger safety window in terms of treating patients.

So, nowadays, compared to, say, 20 years ago, the amount of radiation dose that we're able to deliver to a tumor or to a surgical bed is a lot higher than it would've been 20 years ago because of the way we can now shape the radiation that we deliver. And we're more precise in our delivery because we have a better idea of what's happening inside the body because of the imaging advancements that have taken place.

So truly, the way radiation is delivered now compared to, say, 20 years ago, is just tremendously different. I always like to stress that to patients when I meet with them too, because patients have experience with relatives that had prior radiation treatments and their experience may be very different than the experience that my patients today would be going through.

Host: That's certainly understandable, right? To project what the experiences we know compared to what we haven't had that's happened to us. And with that, Dr. Prime, how do you work with your patients or what advice do you offer to someone who's maybe concerned about cancer risks or they're excited about what they hear in this podcast, but maybe it just seems too big to grasp?

Sabrina Prime, MD: So, for the general audience listening to this podcast or concerned, I'm going to say make sure that you're meeting with your doctor regularly and doing your routine screening for different types of malignancies. So all of us, as we enter older age, right, age is one of the biggest risk factors for the development of some type of cancer. So, we're going to be screening patients for breast cancers, for prostate cancers, for rectal cancers. Patients who are smokers, we're going to be screening them for lung cancer. So, make sure that you're following up on those appropriate screenings for you. And the best person to talk with about that is going to be your primary care provider.

Beyond that, for patients who are really interested or patients who already have a cancer diagnosis and want to know if this is an appropriate portion of their care, speak with the caregivers that you already have, your surgical oncologist or your medical oncologist, because radiation may be something that, if it's not indicated now, may be something down the road that would be appropriate for their care.

Host: Dr. Prime, you were raised in a small town in Minnesota. As Jefferson Healthcare continues to offer more to the community and expand its services, how do you take your small town values in working with patients?

Sabrina Prime, MD: So, you're right. I grew up in a small town. It was roughly the size of Port Townsend, around 13,000 people, maybe a little bit bigger, which is why I really wanted to come back to a small town. I love the fact that going to the grocery store, I run into people that I know, that I know them by name. And I like to take that into the clinic, I like to care for the people that I'm living next to and really feel like i'm touching them from the point of view of physician. But I'm also their neighbor and their community member. I think that's really special about small towns that our ability to do that, to know people across different kind of categories of their life. And I think it enhances their experience. It certainly enhances my experience as a physician. And I really love the ability to do that.

Host: I think that's wonderful. You don't get that everywhere, and I'm glad that you have that approach. Dr. Prime, is there anything else you'd like to add to this conversation?

Sabrina Prime, MD: I am so excited to serve this community. And I'm welcome to all questions. So if any of you run into me in the grocery store, I also frequent the farmer's market every weekend, so please feel free, come up, introduce yourself. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Host: Well, doctor, thank you so much for your time and your insight today.

Sabrina Prime, MD: Thank you.

Host: That was Dr. Sabrina Prime. If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it on your social channels and check out the entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. I'm Nolan Alexander. And this has been To Your health. Thanks for listening.