- FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) — Partnerships between major
academic cancer centers and community hospitals are a quick and effective
way to spread cancer treatment advances, say researchers at Fox Chase
Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

Most new cancer treatments are created at major academic centers and
most cancer care is provided at community hospitals, noted the
researchers, who conducted a quality control audit of hospitals associated
with Fox Chase, a U.S. National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive
Cancer Center.

The 26 hospitals that are part of the Fox Chase Partners Program have
access to the most recent cancer treatment guidelines developed by Fox
Chase and other member institutions of the National Comprehensive Cancer
Network (NCCN).

“When research leads to significant changes in treatment, it can take
years before community oncologists are able to fully adopt the new
guidelines. What's unique about the (Fox Chase) Partners program is the
timely transition of advances. The audit we conducted shows that our
Partner physicians are highly compliant in incorporating recent advances
in cancer treatment,” Margaret O'Grady, director of care management and
clinical operations of Fox Chase Cancer Partners, said in a prepared
statement.

She and her colleagues reviewed the medical charts of 124 patients, age
65 or older, treated for stage III colon cancer at Partner hospitals
between 2003 and 2006, and found high compliance with NCCN treatment
guidelines, including obtaining a minimum of 12 lymph nodes at surgery,
and the addition of oxaliplatin to adjuvant chemotherapy.

Almost all patients (123) received adjuvant chemotherapy, although only
76 (61 percent) received oxaliplatin, a chemotherapy agent shown to extend
survival in this group of patients.

“At first glance, this number looked low, but as we probed further, we
found that all but 11 patients who didn't receive oxaliplatin had
documented co-morbidities or other concerns that precluded them from
receiving this treatment,” O'Grady said.

The audit also found that 74 percent of patients had at least 12 lymph
nodes retrieved, which is critically important to cancer treatment
planning.

Nearly all the patients (93 percent) received appropriate surveillance
with history and physical exams at suggested intervals and routine CEA
testing. Abdominal and pelvic surveillance CT was performed in 78 percent
of patients.

“We found a drop-off in compliance (49 percent) regarding the
documentation of discussions between the doctor and patient about age and
life expectancy in relation to adjuvant chemotherapy,” O'Grady said. “This
discussion is important and informs decision-making.”

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cancer therapy.