Annual Report of the Cancer Program - Assignment Example

? Annual Report of the Cancer Program, School Hospital a) Cancer Committee members F. Catherson, M.D. 2. C.P. Tomeko, M.D. 3. A. B. Nichols, M.D. 4. L. E. Smith, D.O. 5. C. D. Seagram, D.O. 6. B.W. Ye, M.D. b) Cancer Program components 1. Home Health 2. Hospice 3. Multidisciplinary Cancer Committee 4. Cancer Registry 5. Radiation Oncology 6. Chemotherapy 7. Tumor Conference 8. Surgery 9. Diagnostic Radiology 10. Respite Care 11. Oncology Nursing Unit 12. Social Services 13. Chaplain Services 14. Nutrition Services 15. Laboratory and Histology 16. Pharmacy 17. Patient Support Group 18. American Cancer Society Support Group Introduction Cancer is rated the highest killer disease in the whole world today. The deadly disease has surpassed the sister disease HIV/AIDS claiming the lives of thousands of people in almost all countries in the world. The disease is however not regionally dominating as in the case of HIV/AIDS but is a common phenomenon all over the world. According to the U.S National Institute for cancer, cancer, which was formally known as the disease of the rich people, has recently been witnessed even in the poor people’s countries such as Africa and some Asian low class populations (National Cancer Institute). Pancreatic cancer is one among the many forms of manifestation of the cancer disease. This paper will review the various cancer treatment modules and procedures at the Sinai medical centre, one of the leading cancer treatment and monitoring centres in the world. The table below is a summary of all the number of different cancer patients who visited the facility in 2009. All the operations undertaken at the facility with regard to cancer treatment and discharge are represented in the pie chart drawn below, which shows the various types of cancer diseases that were treated with success in the centre in the year 2009. Site Frequency Breast 203 Bronchus 158 Skin 107 Colon 86 Hematopoietic 81 Prostrate 68 Corpus Uterus 57 Kidney 52 Pancreas 45 Unknown Primary 36 Table 1: Top ten cancer sites, 2009 Figure 1: Top ten cancer sites in 2009 As can be evidenced from the data above, the most prevalent type of cancer that is common in the region according to the report found out is the breast cacer, whose number of patients highly dominated the facility followed by the bronchus cancer in that order. The low number of pancreatic cancer in the region can be attributed to the presence of the facility in the area which has been vigorously dealing with the disease, reducing chances of its attack on their neighbouring communities and the people living within the locality where the facility has been instituted. The number of people seeking treatment at the facility has, however, greatly reduced as compared to the previous years. At the inception of the project in the region, quite a number of people used to check at the facility for one reason or the other, mainly cancer patiens at varios stages and of different types. Skin cancer is as another significant problem in the area that requires special attention. Most people suffering from the disease either have strong effects from the sun or use certain oils and lotions that are not favourable to their skins, thus always causing the dangerous disease. We have regularly advised the patients to consult skin experts before using a new skin oil or lotion on their skins in order for them to avoid these illness. Skin, colon, hematopoietic, prostrate, corpus uterus, kidney, pancreatic cancer are less prevalent in the region as we can conclude from our data sources due to the low number of patients who visited our facility in the last one year. The last category of those who do not know their cancer status was also registered at the facility. It is however advisable that people are encouraged to attend regular screening to curbe the prevalence of the disease during its early stages. It is at this stage that the disease can be easily diagnosed and treated with a lot of ease. The low number of those suffering from unknown type of cancer can be attributed to the poor description of the real conditions that the patients are undergoing as well as the low number of those visiting the facility for screening purposes. Most people usully wait untill the disease reaches a recognizable level and then report to the experts. At this point, it is very difficult as well as expensive to help the patients. We therefore encourage all our esteemed patients to check their cancer status with the facility on a regular basis to avoid the extreme conditions common in last minue check-ups. Life bridge analytic cases Moving on to the next step in the operations of the clinic the following table shows the life bridge analytic cases according to the summary done by the facility in a period of five consecutive years between the year 2005 and 2008. Table 2: Life bridge analytic cases Year number of cases 2005 1702 2006 1357 2007 1438 2008 1334 Figure 2: Cancer analytic cases We can deduce from the above that the number of cancer patients from the region who have been visiting the facility for consultations on cancer related cases has been greatly decreasing, an achievement that can only be attributed to the tremendous work that the facility carries out in curbing cancer cases in the region, reducing the number of those suffering from the same. The facility is aiming to expand its operation to other neighboring communities as well as extend its services in the entire country and abroad. This will help in minimizing the rampant cases of cancer attacks and reduce the prevalence of the disease across the globe. Cancer stages Pancreatic cancer is known to develop in a series of stages after its inception in a person. These stages range from the mild cases in stage I to the most severe cases in stage IV, also called the full blown stage. The table below shows the distribution of these stagewise infections that were realised at the facility on the patients attending regular treatment and cancer screening processes. Table 3: Distribution stages Stage No. of patients diagnosed In situ 5 I 21 II 56 III 36 Iv 143 Unknown 63 Figure 3: Horizontal Bar chart of cancer stage distribution The immediate indication on the table above shows that the number of people visiting the facility for cancer treatment and screening is highly dependent on the stage of the disease manifestation. Most people often feel that they are safe from cancer attack, when in the real sense, the disease is just at its early stages of development where its effects are very difficult to realize. In the incubation period during the early stages of the development of the disease, it is quite difficult for the patients to notice that they are actually suffering from the disease. This stage is also known as the dormant stage and is characterised by few signs to almost a normal life free from cancer. At stage V when the disease has begun showing signs and symptoms, most people begin suspecting the occurrence of the disease; hence, preventive measures at this level become very difficult to successfully implement, making it necessary to carry out cancer treatment rather than prevention. The removal of the full grown cancer tumor at this stage is often the most likely mode of treatment apart from other related treatment techniques. This is not always easy and may result into the development of other tumors, further complicating the whole matter. We still therefore appeal to the entire community and anyone who bothers to listen that the screening process is a very important exercise as it can help one to know his or her status at an early stage and undergo an easy treatment and administration of the development of the disease. However, the facility offer periodic cancer awareness campaigns where many people are often encouraged to come over to the facility or any other facility close to them for cancer screening, and we hope that the number of cancer patients will highly decrease once most people are reached by this message. We pray, believe and hope that the concerned population in the vicinity will heed to this call, and we expect positive response from the persons concerned. Relative survival Table 4: Rate survival table Stage % alive at 5 years LBH SEER in situ 63 0 local 8 17 Regional 23 7 Distant 8 2 Unknown 0 5 Figure 4: Rate survival of LBH and SEER at 5years From the table presented above, it can be noted that among the number of people surviving at life bridge health, more are in Situ than at the other levels while those at the SEER are the fewest, with the highest number recorded at the local level while the unknown category had none. Our experts and doctors who are highly experienced in dealing with cancer cases at various levels and on various types always make sure that every one visiting the facility is given the best care possible increasing the number of survivals across the board. We would like to assert to the entire public that our faciliy has a number of highly experienced experts who are adequately skilled in their work and look forward to achieving the main goal of bridging your life and bringing back your hope of living once again. Visit our facility and see more besides getting help. Have your worries and problems solved at Sinai medical centre, find some time to visit our facility, and you will not have it wasted but will save your life instead. LBH summary stage at diagnosis LBH SEER In Situ 5 1.5 0 Local 74 22.8 8 Regional 79 24.4 27 Distant 148 45.7 53 Unknown 18 5.6 13 Figure 5: Scatter diagram for LBH summary stage at diagnosis From the data provided above, it is clearly evident that the number of patients visiting the facility for cancer treatment and sreening increased at the distant level as compared to the other levels which can be related to the active campaigns that the workers at this center carried out in craeating awareness at the local levels on the prevalence of cancer as a killer disease. The values are still low of the unknown owing to the fact that people have not fully heeded to the calls made on regular check ups for cancer. Treatment Table 5: Treatment summary for pancreatic cancer Treatment Percentage of Treatment (%) No Treatment 87 26.9 Surgery 54 16.7 Chemotherapy 51 15.7 S / C 24 7.4 R / C 22 6.8 S / C / R 17 5.2 Radiation 16 4.9 Figure 6: Treatment of pancreatic cancer From the figure above, it can be noted that the number of people reporting to the facility for non-treatment purposes is high as compared to those coming for treament. Some of the services attracting more people to report to this center, even if not to seek treatment on cancer related illnesses, is the counselling sessions that are provided by our facility on the possible ways of manageing cancer. People are also advised on healthy living tips aided by our highly professional doctors. This helps us to reduce the number of those getting affected by the disease lowering down the number of those seeking treatment as a result of cancer attacks and infections. Conclusion In conclusion, I would wish to assert that our hospital has highly contribuited to helping the people around as well as those from far away by equiping them with the necessary skills and knowledge that actually help them live an almost cancer-free life. This has been our mission all along, to create a society that will not be crippled by cancer by offering perfect related services to our patients. Besides, our facility has also helped in providing the necessary, relevant, and timely treatment services to those that are suffering from cancer thereby reducing the number of deaths occuring in the region as a result of this. Our main aim is to extend these services to all people around the globe and help the poor population to live a life free from cancer and other related diseases. We therefore appeal to the global community to pay us a visit at the facility and witness the great help provided here. At times of dire needs that cannot be tackled at our facility, we offer free transfer services to the next centers for the completion of medication since we value your life, which is our sole responsibility as defined in our code of ethics. Reference U.S Department of Human Sevices: National Cancer Institute. "Pancreatic Cancer." WhatYou Need To Know about Cancer of the Pancrease (2012): 10- 19. Read More