Cancer Center Special Report

Our Approach to Care

Coordinated, Comprehensive and Close to Home

Cancer is a complex disease, requiring a comprehensive, coordinated approach to treatment. At the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center, doctors, nurses and other clinical experts combine their knowledge and expertise to create highly individualized plans of care that consider patients’ needs, while providing the latest scientifically proven treatments. It’s a team approach that guarantees each patient will receive top-notch care.

“Cancer is a complicated disease that crosses the lines and boundaries of many different medical specialties,” says Sue Derus, executive director of cancer services for Froedtert Health. “There’s nothing more important than making sure care is given in the right way, at the right time. That can best be accomplished in a setting that is truly multidisciplinary, where all team members are in contact with each other, communicating about the patient.”

The Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center offers 12 multidisciplinary programs to prevent, detect and treat all types of cancer. Patients benefit not only from the expertise of nationally recognized clinicians and researchers but also from the creativity and innovation resulting from a constant interchange of ideas. At weekly “tumor board” meetings, physicians from multiple disciplines — including radiology and pathology — discuss new and difficult cases. Together, they ponder the combination of medicine, radiation, surgery and support that will give each patient the best chance for recovery. Together, they decide on a course of treatment. And together, they work for the best interest of each patient.

As the only academic medical center in eastern Wisconsin, Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin provides access to the latest in cancer care. Cancer Center physicians conduct approximately 130 adult clinical trials every year, many in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group and other multi-institutional efforts.

The results of these trials often lead to new and innovative cancer treatments that might not be available elsewhere. Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin was the first in the state to offer Gliasite® radiation therapy to brain cancer patients, and one of the first in the country to use advanced imaging techniques, including PET/CT and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging to guide the treatment of brain cancer. Other significant advances include sentinel lymph node mapping and ductal lavage (breast cancer), high dose rate brachytherapy (prostate and breast cancer), ovarian tissue banking (all cancers), allogeneic bone marrow transplants (blood cancers) and recently,researchers are exploring new uses for TomoTherapy®, the latest in radiation therapy technology.

National Recognition and Accreditation

The Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center is fast gaining national attention for excellence in oncology. In fact, more than 150 Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin physicians — many of them cancer specialists — were named to the 2005 edition of “Best Doctors in America®.” The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer has awarded the Cancer Center teaching hospital accreditation. The Departments of Radiology and Radiation Oncology are accredited by the American College of Radiology, ranking them in the top 10 percent nationwide, and the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program is one of Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. Froedtert Hospital is also the only hospital in Wisconsin to be recognized for service excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Hospital Program, and is a 2005/06 National Research Corporation Consumer Choice Award winner. The hospital’s health resource center, Small Stones, also received recognition at the 11th Annual National Health Information Awards as one of the best “total health information programs” in the United States.

Leading Edge, Close to Home

Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin’s network of regional relationships ensures that patients in eastern Wisconsin are able to access advanced cancer care without traveling far from home. In addition to our flagship Cancer Center, oncology services are provided at Community Memorial Hospital’s Cancer Care Center in Menomonee Falls and at United Hospital System’s State Senator Joseph F. Andrea Regional Cancer Center at the St. Catherine’s Medical Center Campus in Kenosha.

For more information on the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center, call 800-272-3666.

Source: Cancer Center Special Report 2005/06