UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center
One of the things that has formed the reputation of the University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center is the accessibility of their care.
The UCSD Moores Cancer Center employs a bench-to-bedside approach, making it one of the country’s foremost cancer treatment centers. The Center is also one of the forty-one NCI (National Cancer Institute) Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation. It is the only Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Diego.
The Moores Cancer Center embraces a totally integrated team approach, and is home to some of the nation’s most cutting-edge research facilities. Not only are the research facilities fantastic, but so are the advanced clinical treatments offered. The research processes and treatments are designed to aid in the fight of understanding how cancers arise, and how best to develop novel treatments for the diseases.
The UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center contains both the facilities as well as the staff necessary to handle cases of both pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. These two strains of mesothelioma are the most common types of the care disease which is caused by exposure to the cancer-causing compound asbestos. Mesothelioma has affected many individuals who have worked in shipyards in the US Navy as well as the private sector.
Due to the location of the UCSD Moores Cancer Center, it is a perfect fit for world-class mesothelioma treatment, due to the proximity of the San Diego Naval Shipyard and other private sector employers who engaged in ship-building activities in the surrounding vicinity. An enormous number of former ship-builders are currently battling mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Although asbestos is not currently being used in the building of ships anymore, there is a long latency period for the symptoms of mesothelioma to arise. The latency can be up to almost sixty years after exposure.
HIPEC
The UCSD Moores Cancer Center has been recognized on a global scale for its production of countless new cancer treatments. One of these treatments is the HIPEC (Hypothermic Intraperitoneal Chemoterapy). HIPEC is commonly used with mesothelioma as well as other cancers that arise within the abdominal cavity. HIPEC is also commonly used in combination with cytoreductive surgery, which involved dumping a hot chemotherapy solution directly into the abdomen. After it is administered, it is distributed for about ninety minutes and drained out again. This method has been shown to be a much more effective method than intravenous chemotherapy, with fewer side effects.
Dr. Andrew Lowry, director of the Division of Surgical Oncology at Moores, handles the peritoneal mesothelioma diagnosis and treatment along with Dr. Joel Baumgartner, who is a surgical oncologist hailing from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The UP Medical Center is also well versed in the HIPEC treatment and its affiliated technologies.
Dr. Lowy is respected on the national stage of cancer treatment due to his familiarity with cutting-edge cancer treatments. Dr. Lowy is also currently the co-chair of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Pancreatic Cancer Task Force, which sets the stage for new national clinical research. Spearheading the fight against pleural mesothelioma, we have surgeons Dr. Anthony Perricone, and Dr. Patricia Thistlewait. On the medical oncology front, we have Dr. Lyudmila Bazhenova and Dr. William Mitchell. All of these individuals are specialists in lung cancer with extensive experience treating pleural mesothelioma, which affects the lining of the lungs.
An Integrative Approach
Personalized care is the name of the game at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, and almost always involves an integrative team containing a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, an interventional radiologist, a pathologist, a surgeon, and a pulmonologist.
The cancer care services at Moore Cancer Center have been ranked among the top fifty in the country by the U.S. News & World Report in its 2011-2012 Best Hospitals Survey. Moores Cancer Center is a part of the UC San Diego Health System; this health system was ranked with two A-level Hospital Safety Scores by an independent national non-profit organization called the Leapfrog Group.
As the only hospital in the San Diego area to be featured in Becker’s Hospital REview list of seventy Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Oncology Programs, the Moores Center has gained a reputation for itself both locally and nationally. The Moores Cancer Center became one of the very first U.S. oncology practices recognized by the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative certification program in 2012.
Established in 1979, Moores Cancer Center was dedicated towards advancing cancer care through groundbreaking scientific discoveries, forward-thinking approaches to cancer treatment, and higher quality prevention of cancer. It was relocated to its current neighborhood on the East Campus of UC San Diego in 2005. And eighteen percent annual growth rate has justified a much larger facility that is slated to be established by 2016.
Academic Medical Center Advantages
Acting in collaboration with an academic medical center, the Moores Cancer Center has access to an army of researchers constantly developing novel therapies and cutting-edge medical technologies. The physicians at the cancer center can then develop and tweak their treatment approaches based on the latest medical breakthroughs. The specialists at the academic medical center includes experts in nutrition, diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, nursing, as well as social work. The HIPEC Center is by far the largest location on the entire West Coast.
The HIPEC Center attracts patients from California as well as the rest of the nation; it is a cutting-edge institute. The program geared towards blood and marrow transplantation is one of the largest in the entire state; it is currently a leader in the nation thanks to the expertise of its physicians. The palliative Care Program at the center is extremely well staffed, and there are separate Care Units for many different types of cancers.
Moores happens to contain its own office specifically reserved for clinical trials. Here, new drugs, radiation therapies, new surgeries, and combinations of all of these treatments are utilized for the advancement of cancer treatment everywhere. This office is able to offer care of the highest quality and access to treatments that the public is not exposed to.