A cancer diagnosis can leave you feeling like you’re in a race and falling behind. But it’s important to take the time to research your options. Because the right program can make all the difference.
Each year, 12.7 million people from around the world are diagnosed with cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you or a loved one are going through a cancer diagnosis of any kind, here are some features to look for:
Variety of Treatments & Locations
It’s vital to find a cancer program that offers a variety of options to you and your family, both in terms of treatment and location. A bigger cancer program is going to give you more choices than a smaller one.
At the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at HCA Midwest Health, you’re choosing world-class cancer care. We are focused on personalized patient care with access to the latest treatment options available.
Our team of specialists focus on specific cancer types, including:
- Blood
- Breast
- Colon
- Complex Gastrointestinal (GI)
- Liver and pancreas
- Head and neck
- Genitourinary (GU)
- Gynecologic
- Thoracic/lung
- Neurologic
Sarah Cannon HCA Midwest Health is a cancer network anchored by our four accredited hospitals: Belton Regional Medical Center, Centerpoint Medical Center, Menorah Medical Center and Research Medical Center. With additional cancer programs at Lee’s Summit Medical Center, Overland Park Regional Medical Center and numerous outreach clinics in surrounding areas, it doesn’t matter where you live—we’re there, wherever you need us.
Comprehensive & Personalized Treatments
A comprehensive treatment plan is an approach to treatment that involves multidisciplinary care by a team of specialists and focuses on meeting all of the patient’s needs throughout the cancer journey — both medical and physical. When exploring cancer programs, discuss how they approach treatment planning. You could ask: Do you have resources for family and patient education programs? What do you do to help patients with financial concerns related to treatment costs? What kind of wellness programs such as nutrition and fitness do you offer? Are social workers available for support and resources? What other special programs does your program offer?
Cancer is never “one size fits all”— so treatments shouldn’t be either. Personalized treatments are tailored to each individual patient through a process called tumor profiling, which gives doctors information about the genes in cancer cells and creates personalized treatments that best fight that individual’s cancer.
At Sarah Cannon HCA Midwest Health, we have both personalized treatments and a comprehensive approach to treatment plans, along with some of the most rapid diagnosis-to-treatment times available in the area.
Patient Navigators
Let’s face it: A cancer diagnosis is scary. But you don’t have to navigate your cancer treatment alone if you have a cancer Nurse Navigator. From scheduling appointments to answering medical questions, to just listening — a nurse navigator is there to smooth your path as you go through your treatment plan. At Sarah Cannon HCA Midwest Health, our nurse navigators stay with patients throughout their cancer journey from discovery to recover and survivorship.
Comprehensive Genetic Counseling
Some forms of cancer are genetic. So it may be a good idea for the whole family to have genetic counseling to assess each individual’s risk. Sarah Cannon HCA Midwest Health offers the most comprehensive genetic counseling program in the area. We offer genetic risk assessment and counseling to those who have concerns about their personal and/or family history of cancer.
Clinical Trials
A clinical trial can provide access to the latest advances and treatments with cancer care. It’s important to make sure your cancer program is equipped to help you participate in clinical trials that might be the right fit for you.
The Sarah Cannon Research Institute at HCA Midwest Health provides greater access to the most cutting-edge therapies through clinical trial options in the Kansas City region. Currently, there are several open clinical trials locally with access to more than 500 nationally.
The Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) was formed nearly 25 years ago to make sure that patients could access cutting-edge therapies closer to home. SCRI treats 2,500 patients each year in clinical trials across the U.S. and U.K.
Conducting more than 500 community-based trials through affiliations with 1,000+ physicians across its network, Sarah Cannon has been a clinical trial leader in approximately 80 percent of approved cancer therapies over the last decade.
Here are a few other highlights Sarah Cannon offers patients:
- We offer 100 percent patient-focused research. That means we don’t do any laboratory or animal research. In addition, we’ve been conducting clinical trials in community-based settings for more than 20 years.
- We have a large geographic reach. We see 100,000+ newly diagnosed cancer cases and 2.1 million cancer-related admissions across our network each year.
- We offer a comprehensive network with best-in-class technology and science. For example, we use molecular profiling to identify the best therapies for patients, which is at the heart of our scientific and clinical offering.
- We’re a trusted partner of top pharmaceutical companies. Our deep partnerships with top pharma/biotech companies show the trust the industry has in our clinical trial expertise.
Advanced Care
It goes without saying that you want the most advanced, up-to-date care for yourself or loved one battling cancer. Sarah Cannon HCA Midwest Health offers some of the most advanced and comprehensive radiation therapies available in the region. We’re well-known for offering advanced care in a community setting. That means when you make an appointment with us, you can expect personalized and compassionate care from our world-class team of doctors.
We have highly specialized surgical oncologists offering minimally-invasive and cutting-edge robotic surgical options. Our physicians are board-certified in medical oncology, radiation oncology, gynecologic oncology and surgery. Our nursing and healthcare staff is comprised of skilled, experienced cancer practitioners.
What’s next?
If you’d like to learn more about what we offer, call askSARAH at (816) 448-7737 and speak to a nurse. We’re available to answer questions, 24/7.
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