Cancer Care Program
At Madigan, a patient will encounter the Cancer Care Program when they receive the diagnosis of a malignant condition or some benign conditions (such as a benign brain tumor that's life threatening because of the location inside the skull). Once the diagnosis is made, the patient’s Primary Care Manager will refer them to the cancer care team who specializes in that patient's type of cancer.
More Than A Clinic
The Cancer Care Program is not a clinic, but a specialized plan designed by each individual patient’s doctor. A patient will visit different clinics depending upon the type of cancer and at what stage it is first discovered. Most often, a patient meets with a Surgeon for a biopsy, and then from there, depending on the diagnosis, a patient can be referred for surgery to remove a tumor. After surgery, a cancer patient may be referred for chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Dedicated Case Management
Patients with cancer of the prostate, testicle, breast, colon, rectum, and breast are helped through the diagnosis and treatment processes by a dedicated case manager, who will also remind them of follow up appointments after treatment is completed. Breast cancer patients have a dedicated physician/nurse team on the Breast Pathway Program to help them every step of the way through their diagnosis and treatment.
Patients with other types of cancer are referred to specialty physicians and helped through the process by staff in Medical Oncology that includes an oncology social worker if a patient needs systemic treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
A patient’s condition will be discussed by several cancer specialists at a tumor board attended by surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, case managers, social workers, and tumor registrars. These specialists talk over a patient's specific details and make recommendations for treatment. This service, along with the patient’s preferences, helps the patient's doctor make a treatment plan specifically for the patient.
Specialized Care Team
The Medical Oncology team is comprised of two physicians specializing in systemic cancer treatment, a dedicated pharmacist, civilian and military nurses with specialty training to help patients through their customized treatment plans, a social worker and/or a case manager to assist in navigating the patient throughout treatment. Systemic therapy (chemotherapy) includes chemotherapeutic, biologic, and immunotherapeutic agents that are administered for treatment of a malignant disease by an oral or a parenteral (intravenous) route.
Madigan Army Medical Center’s Cancer Program has been accredited since 1951 as verified by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. This makes Madigan Army Medical Center the second longest continually accredited Cancer Program in the Department of Defense.
The Medical Oncology team is located in Hematology/Oncology located on fourth floor (4 South) of the Hospital Tower.
The Radiation Oncology team includes two physicians and a team of special trained physicists, dosimetrists, therapists, nurses and an admin assistant. Radiation oncology is a form of cancer treatment that uses strong beams of energy to kill cancer cells or keep them from growing and spreading. Radiation therapy treatments are one of the most common treatments for cancer and are often part of the main treatment for certain kinds of cancers. Radiation therapy can be given via external treatments or implanted/internal treatments and can be used alone or with other treatments such as surgery or chemotherapy. Small doses of radiation may be administered daily over a period of several days to several weeks. The Radiation Oncologist will select the type of therapy best suited for the patient’s particular type of cancer. Radiation therapy may be used in conjunction with surgery or chemotherapy.
The Radiation Oncology team is located in Radiation Oncology , which located on the ground floor in room G-33-C3, next to Nuclear Medicine, along the west corridor near the Facilities Management Division.
Other Cancer Services at Madigan include:
- Hematology-Oncology
- Neurology
- Neurology-Oncology
- GYN Oncology
- Dermatology
- Pulmonary
- Cardiothoracic Surgery
- Ophthalmology
- General Surgery
- Otolaryngology
- Urologic Oncology
Patients may at any time during treatment, the assistance from the Palliative Care Team, which is available to assist with spiritual or practical matters of dealing with a life-threatening disease.