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H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center | Mesothelioma Treatment in Tampa

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center | Mesothelioma Treatment in Tampa

Located in Tampa, Florida, the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute launched its Mesothelioma Research and Treatment Center in 2012. This new center paved the way for an official home for the incredible integrative research that the Moffitt Center has been undertaking in regard to mesothelioma for years.

Moffitt is recognized as one of the top cancer centers in the country; launching this new program alongside their department of thoracic oncology, the Moffitt Center took yet another step towards finding a cure for mesothelioma with its group of cutting-edge physicians. Thanks to the new Mesothelioma Research and Treatment Center, Florida residents do not have to travel immense distances to receive top quality care.

Dr. Schott Antonia, acting chairman of the thoracic oncology department, believes that the Moffitt Center can compete with older, more established cancer research institutes due to their integrative approach towards research and clinical trials.

Spearheading the mesothelioma program at the Moffitt Center, Dr. Antonia is joined by radiation oncologist Dr. Craig Stevens, medical oncologist Dr. Tawee Tanvetyanon, and surgical oncologist Dr. Jacques Fontaine. Providing the integrative approach that is essential in the treatment of mesothelioma, which affects almost three thousand individuals annually in the United States, they have accepted the challenge of providing the highest quality cancer care available.

The board meets regularly and works together, discussing every individual case, and collaborates in order to insure that every single patient receives a thorough treatment plan.

Dr. Fontaine believes that the success of the Moffitt Cancer Center is thanks to the ability of the physicians to function as a team. He believes that their integrative approach allows them to pull in the same direction: curing mesothelioma. Their staff includes all walks of the profession, including social workers, nutritionists, pulmonologists, nurses, and pathologists.

Among the world-class treatment options available to mesothelioma patients at the Moffitt Center are: revolutionary surgeries such as the lung-sparing pleurectomy/ decortication and extrapleural pneumonectomy, radiation therapies such as intensity modulation radiation therapies, brachytherapy, and tomotherapy, and traditional chemotherapies as well as heated intraoperative peritoneal chemotherapy.

Clinical Research and Trials

Developing brand new treatments has always been a stress at the Moffitt Mesothelioma Treatment and Research Center. This would not be possible without world-class clinical research. The Moffitt Cancer Center joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2012 in a phase Ib study that involves a vaccine of CRS 207 as well as immunotherapy for patients of mesothelioma. The Moffitt Center also happens to be in the middle of a phase III study involving NGR-TNF, which is a novel treatment designed to terminate mesothelioma tumor cells.

The Moffitt Center has long been at the forefront of cancer research. Designated by the NCI as one of the nation’s revered Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Center is a leader in research, clinical trials, as well as cancer education, prevention, basic science, and patient care. The U.S. News and World Report has listed Moffitt as on of the nation’s best hospitals for cancer care for thirteen straight years. Exceeding seventy-five million dollars, the Moffitt Center receives an enormous amount of peer-reviewed grant funding. This grant funding happens to include a Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant in lung cancer treatment exploration.

Since its very first patients were accepted in 1986, the Moffitt Center has remained in a partnership with the University of South Florida, Tampa, in order to provide teaching opportunities.

Innovations in Cancer Treatment

At the Moffitt Center, advancing cancer prevention methods and discovering cures are the common goals. Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), a specialty of Moffitt and Stevens, is a groundbreaking approach towards mesothelioma treatment. This therapy delivers high doses of radiation to invasive tumors while safely reducing any of the harmful effects of surrounding, healthy tissues.

Publishing the first papers on the use of IMRT in 2002, Stevens’ research was praised by the entire medical community, and led to his techniques becoming common practice in many cancer treatment centers all over the globe. These methods have developed and improved throughout the years of clinical trials and research. Dr. Fontaine suggests that institutions must accept the challenges that come with innovating treatments in order to make strides in the fight against mesothelioma.

This what he considers the strength of the Moffitt center: binding together against a fight that requires innovative thinking and collaboration from all walks of medical professions.

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