Dawn Lagrosa

Offering medical, surgical, and radiation oncology, the Hallmark Health Hematology and Oncology Center provides local access to personalized, comprehensive, high-quality cancer care. Located in Stoneham, Massachusetts, about 7 miles north of Boston, the center is part of Hallmark Health System, which also includes 2 community hospitals, Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital.

After the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, Chicago became one of the fastest growing cities in the world. But in this time of prosperity and growth, the prognosis for children born in the city was grim. A child had only a 50% chance of surviving to the age of 5 years, and those who survived were likely to be exposed to a host of diseases. In 1882, Julia Foster Porter took bold steps to transform the future of children’s health in Chicago by renovating a modest home and establishing Chicago’s first—and still its only—hospital dedicated exclusively to caring for children. Read More ›

Clinical oncology pharmacists evaluate and treat pain through pain management consultations at Porter Cancer Care Center. As part of the comprehensive cancer treatment program at Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver, Colorado, Robin Mower, PharmD, and colleagues provide one-on-one pain evaluation consults to enhance the quality of life of patients with cancer. Fortunately, Colorado allows collaborative drug therapy management (CDTM) between physicians and pharmacists, allowing the clinical pharmacists at Porter Adventist Hospital to provide pain management under the CDTM protocol. Read More ›

For breast cancer patients aged 66 years and older, nurses should consider comorbidities when discussing prognosis, according to an analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results–Medicare data.

This past April, Mountain States Health Alliance’s Regional Cancer Center celebrated the 1-year anniversary of its new, state-of-theart oncology pharmacy. Located in the Regional Cancer Center’s dedicated medical oncology facility, the pharmacy provides USP <797>-compliant chemotherapy and supportive care agents as well as the benefit of face-to-face collaboration between pharmacists and the rest of the cancer care team.

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Following a lung cancer diagnosis, patients typically embark on a dizzying journey that takes them from one waiting room to another, as they follow their treatment plan from the medical oncologist to the surgical oncologist to the radiation oncologist and back again. Coordinating these visits imposes yet another burden on the patient and often leads to delays in care. Six years ago, St. Joseph Mercy Cancer Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan, decided to simplify life for their patients by opening a multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic.

APP Pharmaceuticals has issued a voluntary recall of 5 lots of irinotecan hydrochloride injection (Camptosar) as a precautionary measure. No adverse events related to the recalled products have been reported. The following lots have been recalled:

What started as tumor board conferences a decade ago has grown into a true multidisciplinary team approach to comprehensive breast care. ProHealth Care’s Center for Breast Care at Waukesha Memorial Hospital’s Regional Cancer Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin, is an interdisciplinary breast cancer clinic where patients can see multiple specialists in one visit. With the opening of the clinic, the various specialists involved in patient care can talk to each other about a patient in real time, not replacing tumor board conferences, but taking patient care to the next level.

Avoiding intermittent highdose dexamethasone (HD) when administering the vincristine/ doxorubicin/dexamethasone (VAD) regimen can reduce the risk for bacterial infection in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), suggest the results of a Japanese study published in the January issue of the International Journal of Hematology.

This past April, Geisinger Medical Center’s (GMC) Cancer Institute became one of 14 sites added to the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP). Joining this national network of community cancer centers offers GMC the opportunity to expand its state-of-the-art cancer care and research in northeast Pennsylvania.

West Michigan Cancer Center (WMCC) has increased the quality of patient care while updating its business model for today's economic times. In recognition of this achievement, WMCC received a 2009 Cancer Center Innovator Award. The award was presented by Foley & Lardner at the third annual Cancer Center Business Summit in Dallas, Texas.