Services

Deciding where to receive treatment and follow-up care following a cancer diagnosis is an important decision. Treatment at Bassett occurs in a multi-disciplinary, academic setting with the same cutting-edge treatment options available in larger markets including:da Vinci robotic surgery, linear accelerator radiosurgery, clinical trials,and chemotherapy treatment that follows the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. Bassett's Cancer Program has been continuously accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer since 1956, one of the longest, continuous accreditations in the nation, and our registered nurses in the Bassett Cancer Institute are oncology certified.

Medical Oncology
Board certified hematologist/oncologists and certified oncology nurses tailor highly individualized programs for each patient, providing chemotherapy, immunotherapy and supportive care. Services include:

• Adjuvant therapy for cancers that have already been surgically removed
• Treatment of cancers that cannot be treated with surgery or radiation therapy
  
• Treatment to enhance the benefits of radiation therapy
  
• Access to the newest drugs and biological treatments
  

Chemotherapy is administered in a specially designed treatment rooms by oncology certified nurses under the direct supervision of board-certified medical oncologists.

 The oncology pharmacy staff, who are specially trained in the preparation of cancer drugs, work side-by-side with the medical oncology doctors and nurses.
Patients have access to the latest cancer therapies through participation in National Cancer Institute-sponsored clinical trials. Patients are also offered many other support services including:

• Education regarding their treatment
• Use of venous access devices and portable infusion pumps
  
• Blood and blood product transfusion
  
• Pain management
  
• Social Work
  
• Nutritional counseling
  
• Arrangements for home health care and, when needed, hospice care
  

Radiation Oncology
Radiation therapy provides an important modality for the cancer patient. It is one of the primary modalities for treatment of many cancers, and it is also used to provide control of the tumor and relieve pain for nearly all types of cancers, either when they are first diagnosed or if they recur.

The Bassett Cancer Institute utilizes state-of-the-art radiation oncology technology, the newest procedures, and a highly trained team of physicians and allied professionals to treat cancer patients. Using the latest radiation oncology equipment, staff design the safest, most effective treatments to minimize side effects. The Cancer Institute offers an extensive radioactive implant program, including prostate seed implant therapy.

Technology

• Trilogy Linear Accelerator
• 3D Computerized Treatment Planning
  
• High Dose Rate Afterloading Brachytherapy
  
• Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
  
• Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT)
  
• Mammosite
  

The department continues to offer the newest radiation oncology treatment techniques. Staff members have presented their extensive experience with these approaches at national cancer meetings since 1997.

Surgical Oncology
Most types of cancers require the involvement of a surgeon for the diagnosis and/or treatment of the disease. The Division of Surgical Oncology at the Bassett Cancer Institute is staffed by surgeons who are specially trained in the diagnosis and treatment of malignancies. Specialists are available in the areas of breast, thoracic, gastrointestinal, urologic, neurologic and head and neck surgery. These physicians have expertise in:

• Breast cancer surgery, including sentinel node biopsy
• Thoracic surgery, including thoracoscopy
• Urology, including DaVinci Radical Prostatectomy
• Gastrointestinal surgery, including laparoscopic surgery
• Otolaryngology surgery (ear, nose and throat)
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• General Surgery, including diagnosis, treatment and placement of implantable devices

Close collaboration with other medical specialties and with radiologists allow many patients to be diagnosed in the outpatient setting either under local anesthetic or through ambulatory surgery. This minimizes operative risk and allows accurate evaluation of the extent of disease prior to definitive surgery or referral to other modalities of treatment, if required.

The use of computerized tomography (CT) scanning, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomagraphy (PET), ultrasound, conventional x-rays and nuclear medicine scanning techniques assist the surgeon in evaluating and providing the optimal treatment for the cancer patient.

The Department of Pathology utilizes the most modern methods of tissue analysis and staining to accurately diagnose and describe the wide range of malignant tumors we call cancer. In addition, there is access to a wide variety of tests for both tumors and blood which provide the physician with information about such things as the extent of the cancer, how likely it is to respond to treatment, and how well it has responded once treatment is started.

Supportive Services

• Nutrition counseling
• Social Work
• Lymphedema Treatment
• Pain Management
• Laboratory
• Cancer Treatment Center
• Pharmacy
• Radiology