Colon cancer survival rates at St. Francis surpass national figures

INDIANAPOLIS – Patients treated for colon cancer at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers have markedly higher survival rates than national and statewide averages, according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer.

The overall five-year survival for all colon cancer patients treated at St. Francis Cancer Care Services was 52.1 percent. This compares to 49 percent statewide and 50 percent nationally.

Colon and rectal cancers are the most common malignancies in the United States and result in the third highest number of cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. Of the estimated 154,000 colorectal cases diagnosed each year, 73 percent are colon-related.

Each year, St. Francis’ Cancer Care Committee chooses one tumor site for annual review to monitor cancer treatment. It gathers and analyzes its data from the hospital’s Tumor Registry.

In 2006 it focused on 103 cases of colon cancer. Cases examined represented a nearly even distribution between males and females with a majority of patients ranging in age from 60 to 90.

The main treatment for colon cancer is surgery, curative in most cases. At St. Francis, surgery was performed on 89 percent of patients. However, surgery often needs to be accompanied with additional therapies for patients with more locally extensive disease or if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.

Nearly all colon cancer patients whose cancer has spread to their lymph nodes receive chemotherapy at St. Francis, hospital officials reported. Statewide and nationally, patients undergo chemotherapy only 73 percent of the time.

“Certainly these results are encouraging, but our goal is prevention and early diagnosis,” said Peter G. Garrett, M.D., medical director of oncology services and chairman of the Cancer Care Committee at St. Francis.

“Screening for colon cancer is highly effective, and one of the key objectives of our Colorectal Cancer Center of Excellence is to increase awareness of risk factors associated with colon cancer,” Garrett added. “Colonoscopy should be part of routine care for everyone who is 50 and older, or earlier for those with a significant family history.”

The Colorectal Cancer Center of Excellence team, headed by medical director Michael Morelli, M.D., includes more than 25 physician specialists including gastroenterologists, colorectal surgeons, general surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, family practice physicians and radiologists. The team evaluates the latest treatment options, and makes recommendations for the education, screening, diagnosis, staging and surveillance of patients with colorectal cancer.

St. Francis Hospital long has been recognized for its strong cancer care programs rating highly with regard to standardized outcomes measures and has achieved many “firsts” in Indiana. Of the 34 Commission on Cancer programs in Indiana, St. Francis ranks in the top 3 percent in treating stage III colorectal disease.

And in the area of new technology, St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers also is a leader in piloting selective internal radiation therapy for colon cancer that has spread to the liver. It is also first to offer megavoltage cone beam imaging, providing more precise targeting of several types of cancer tumors.

For more information about St. Francis Cancer Care Services, go to http://stfrancishospitals.org/cancer.

St. Francis has hospitals on Indianapolis’ south side, Beech Grove and Mooresville. St. Francis is part of a network of 13 hospital campuses in Indiana and Illinois owned and operated by the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc., one of the largest health-care systems in Indiana.