Transcription:
What to Look for When Choosing a Cancer Progam

Carl Maronich (Host): And Joining us today is Dr. Joe Hamdan. Dr. Hamdan is a Medical Oncologist with Riverside Cancer Institute. Dr. Hamdan, thanks for joining us. Today, interesting topic, we're going to talk about what to look for in a cancer program. Those that have a cancer issue need to decide what program they're going to get involved in.

And so we're looking to you as the expert to kind of guide us through what patients should think about and the things they need to look at when they're considering a cancer program. So let's start with maybe one of the things that you think people want to give consideration to when it comes to selecting a cancer program.

Joehar Hamdan, DO (Guest): Well, thank you. And I'm glad to be here today. One question that people should look into and kind of question them if basically how well known is this cancer institute? And you know, here at Riverside, we are a teaching hospital.

Host: Which not many people know about Riverside. We are accredited teaching hospital.

Dr. Hamdan: No, no one else in the region is a teaching hospital. So yeah, that is something that tells about how up-to-date we are, because here we are training new physicians to go out there and treat patients. All our staff participate in the teaching process and we're also accredited by the National Commission on Cancer. And we've been certified for several years. We are up to date with the latest technology and conforming with the guidelines as they are updated.

Host: Certain standards maintained? So that's...

Exactly.

Another key component of a program certainly would be the physicians and the providers that, that make up that program. And are part of that program speak a little bit if you would, to, to what folks should consider regarding the physicians of a cancer program?

Dr. Hamdan: So our physicians Dr. Sipahi who's our leader, Dr. Veerapani, Basha and myself, we're all Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Oncology and Hematology. These are national boards that designates a physician that they're up to date and in line with the knowledge that is necessary to treat patients with cancer. We all have clinical expertise in treating various types of cancer, and most importantly, we're constantly looking and trying to stay up to date with all the newest information. There are right now, several new FDA approved medications that are readily available at our Cancer Institute. And you know, we always strive to perform and make sure that we provide everything that we can to our patients locally.

Host: Yeah. That's great. Internal Medicine, Oncology folks, who pretty recognize those. Hematology. Talk a little bit, if you would, about what hematology is and how it impacts oncology care.

Dr. Hamdan: So hematology is essentially study of blood disorders. So that ranges from blood clots to blood cancers, anemias. There's a variety. I mean, so, I mean, if you look at anemia in itself, there's a book about anemia, that's about a thousand pages, so, a medical textbook, so it's a very wide spectrum of medical conditions with underlying blood disorders.

Host: And and very very key in the cancer care. ANd treatment of cancer. And speaking of key to the treatment of cancer, let's talk a little bit about technology. Certainly if you're considering a cancer program, the technology they have for treatments would certainly be a strong consideration.

Dr. Hamdan: That's definite. So, here at Riverside Cancer Institutes provides the latest in technology, both in diagnostics and in treatment. So, we have by far the best radiology department in the area. We also provide up to date diagnostic studies. Our pathology department is very strong and they actually cooperate with Rush University and Mayo Clinic in understanding and diagnosing patients as it's like a tumor board, if you may to take a look at the tissue and make sure that the diagnosis is the most accurate. We also have the latest in radiation technology. Dr. Herskovic who leads the radiation department provides a multitude of different radiation modalities in order to help treat the patient in a more individual, or what we call precision medicine. We also have in our surgical departments, fantastic surgeons who perform robotic surgery and also are able to help us with obtaining an appropriate amount of tissue to diagnose the patient and also surgically resect tumors when possible.

Host: Yeah. So a point about that, these surgeons, not oncologists, but they treat cancer patients certainly who need surgery. So that really speaks to the need for a program that's connected to a health system that have these other components. Is that right?

Dr. Hamdan: Exactly. So we have weekly tumor boards where the radiation doctor, the medical oncologists, including myself, the surgeons, the pathologists, the radiologists; we all sit down on this large table, discuss all our new cancer patients and the best way, the step-by-step approach of how we're going to treat each individual patient. And we also are collaborating with other institutions that provide clinical trials. So, we are able to basically plug in patients who are appropriate for clinical trials when necessary. So, we have a very good connection with Rush University downtown, which is our affiliate.

Host: Yeah. That's a great addition to a program. Having that, that availability.

Of course, of course.

Host: if appropriate. Wonderful. Anything else in the area of technology that we want to address?

Dr. Hamdan: So cancer is, fast growing in sense of the science and understanding of how to treat cancer. We have the latest technology available to us to not only determine what type of cancer we have, but the genetic mutations in this cancer to treat it most appropriately. So we are moving away, more and more from the traditional toxic chemotherapy to what we call precision medicine again, where it's personalized. So, a patient may have a certain mutation. We may have a pill that could treat your patient and you will just take daily. So I have, for instance, I have a stage four lung cancer patient, who's been on a pill for the last five years. No evidence of disease. So this technology is available at our institution and it's really helped improve and impact the quality of life and overall survival of our patients.

Host: And thinking of quality of life you know, there are some other aspects to a program. Some of these larger academic programs, people could probably tend to feel lost in the number of folks they have. I think we have the ability to combine the great providers, the great technology, to a more personal kind of program. Would that be accurate?

Dr. Hamdan: I agree with that. Here at our institution, the majority of our staff members, they live in the area, our providers live in the area. They may go to church or school or have worked in the past with our patients. And, you know, I have had patients tell me that we're sometimes treated like a number and other institutions. Here, you know, we're one in part of the community where you know, we strive to help the people of our community. I mean, it's a very important to us. And you think about also the convenience. There's very little places where you could just park right in front of your cancer center and walk over and get your treatment. Obviously as you may already know and you may have alluded to that going downtown, hours of driving and then parking garages. And where am I going from here? It's easy to get lost in that those kinds of situations.

Host: Yeah. The journey through cancer is challenging enough. You don't necessarily need those other challenges as well. And something else that we talked about is speed of appointment we'll call it. You know, the ability if you get a diagnosis, you don't want to wait a long time to move on the process and get to treatment. That another advantage of the program at Riverside?

Dr. Hamdan: Definitely, here at Riverside, we collaborate with other physicians that work at Riverside as well. And most of us share cell phone numbers. So we have a patient who needs to be seen sooner, we could see the patient sometimes the very next day, and get the process started so that the patient's not staying anxious, waiting to hear some information, that we work with it as soon as knowledge of what's going on is available.

Host: Now, somebody who, hears the words, cancer. A million things run through their mind. I think when they first get that diagnosis, what would you say to them? When they're first diagnosed, their head's spinning with all this information. What's the most important kind of first step they should take?

Dr. Hamdan: I think when they contact our office, I want patients to realize that we're in this together and the stress and anxiety will likely be there, but we hope to be able to provide services that will alleviate that stress and anxiety. We have social workers, we have financial counselors. We have our nurse navigator that helps us navigate patients through the system. And we're very accessible to the community physicians as well to help facilitate treatment sooner. So when you're able to see the doctor the very next day, you're obviously going to start treatment sooner. So that is all essential, especially in cancer, certain cancers, where timing is of utmost importance, it does change the outlook and outcomes of the care that we are able to provide.

Host: Wonderful Dr. Joe Hamdan, Medical Oncologist with the Riverside Cancer Institute. Thanks for joining us today.

Dr. Hamdan: Thank you.