St. Francis Hospital to open Breast Clinic Feb. 3

INDIANAPOLIS – The Breast Cancer Center of Excellence at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers will soon see patients in a new multidisciplinary clinic.

The Breast Clinic allows patients to be evaluated in one visit by physicians in specialties such as breast and reconstructive surgery, medical oncology and radiation oncology. These physicians also will consult with radiologists and pathologists to evaluate imaging exams, biopsies and surgical pathology reports.

“The goal of the breast clinic is to provide an easily accessible and streamlined avenue for evaluating patients with suspicious exam results or symptoms and, if necessary, develop a concise treatment plan for patients diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Kent Brumbaugh, executive director of St. Francis Cancer Center.

The clinic, which opens February 3, will be located at the offices of Denise Johnson Miller, M.D., director of the St. Francis Breast Surgery Program at 5255 E. Stop 11 Rd, Suite 250, and is open Wednesdays from 8 to 11:30 a.m. for scheduled appointments.

Nurse navigator Janice Leak, M.S.N., will coordinate patients’ schedules and consult with physicians to develop treatment plans. Patients and families seen in the clinic are an important part of developing an individual plan of care during their visit.

For scheduling information, contact Leak at 317-782-6704, or via e-mail at Janice.Leak @ssfhs.org.

More information about the St. Francis Cancer Center is at www.stfrancishospitals.org/cancer.

St. Francis physician explains advance directives at cancer seminar

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s vital one has the ability to specify what actions should be taken for their health in the event that they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity.

Gerald Walthall, M.D., medical director with the St. Francis Hospital Palliative Medicine team, will discuss the purpose of advance directives and why it’s important for individuals to have one at a free seminar for cancer patients and their families 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3.

This meeting is at the St. Francis Education Center, 5935 S. Emerson Ave., Suite 100. This discussion will coincide with the monthly Indianapolis Southside chapter of SPOHNC (Support for People with Head and Neck Cancer.) Ample time will be provided for participants’ questions and discussion.

This monthly support group meets the first Thursday of each month and is for anyone with oral, head or neck cancer, regardless of stage or type of cancer. Caregivers are welcome.

For more information or to register for this event, call 317-782-4422. Sponsored by the St. Francis Cancer Center, www.stfrancishospitals.org/cancer.

Surgeon uses unique robotics procedure to treat colorectal cancer patient

BEECH GROVE, Ind. – Today, (May 29) at St. Francis Hospital-Beech Grove, Dipen Maun, M.D., used sophisticated robotic technology to perform a low anterior resection on a rectal cancer patient – a procedure that is the first of its kind in Indiana.

Maun, a surgeon with the St. Francis-affiliated Kendrick Regional Center for Colon and Rectal Care, performed a low anterior resection (LAR) to remove a cancerous tumor from the patient’s lower rectum. Traditionally, such operations required large incisions and lengthy recovery periods. More recently, the surgeries have been performed laparoscopically to minimize pain and accelerate recovery.

What made Maun’s approach unique is that he used the da Vinci™ Surgical System.

"The da Vinci robotic system offers many advantages for the patient," said Maun, who specializes in endoscopy and laparoscopic colorectal surgery. "These include decreased conversion rates from laparoscopic to open surgery, improved specimen completeness, fewer complications, and possibly shorter hospital stays and faster recovery times."

The system, developed by Intuitive Surgical, also provides the surgical team with improved options. Working at the da Vinci controls several feet from the operating table, the attending surgeon has an enhanced 3-D view of the field of operation, improved dexterity and greater precision.

The da Vinci system was developed more than a decade ago at the urging of the Department of Defense. Military surgeons were looking for ways they could perform procedures from remote locations, far from battlefields. While that ultimate goal has yet to be realized, the computerized robotic system has been welcomed by surgeons in public and private hospitals worldwide.

More information about the Kendrick Regional Center for Colon and Rectal Care, located on the St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville campus, is at www.kendrickcenter.com/meet.html.
To learn more about the St. Francis Colorectal Cancer Center of Excellence go to www.stfrancishospitals.org/Cancer/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=38.

IOHC joins St. Francis Medical Group; expands cancer treatment options

INDIANAPOLIS – The addition of Indiana Oncology Hematology Consultants (IOHC) further expands the specialty offerings of St. Francis Medical Group.

“We are very pleased to welcome IOHC to the growing family of St. Francis Medical Group practices,” said Kent Brumbaugh, executive director of St. Francis Cancer Care Services. “The IOHC physicians have provided services at St. Francis for many years, but this adds a new dimension to our relationship.”

The merger pools the expertise of physicians and researchers within IOHC and St. Francis Cancer Care Services to form a network of professionals practicing at St. Francis hospitals in Indianapolis, Beech Grove and other locations throughout the state.

“We are indeed excited about the prospects that this merger affords us,” said IOHC President Randall Trowbridge, M.D. “The cancer services that we will be able to provide for our patients and the community has expanded, and we look forward to being an integral part of the cancer program within the St. Francis system.”

The merger brings to St. Francis the top-notch medical services of Laurence H. Bates, M.D.; Maureen Cooper, M.D..; Anita F. Conte, M.D.; Michael T. Slaughter, M.D., Ph.D.; Gregory W. Smith, M.D.; Randall Trowbridge, M.D.; and Johnnie Springman, R.N., family nurse practitioner. In July, Christopher Braden, D.O., will be joining the practice as well. The IOHC physicians treat a wide range of oncologic and hematologic disorders.

IOHC also brings a highly skilled nursing, clinical studies and administrative staff to join forces with St. Francis.

Organized in 1983, IOHC has provided quality health care services to patients throughout Indiana, including two Indianapolis locations: 8111 S. Emerson Ave., Suite A, (in the St. Francis Cancer Care Center) and 9002 N. Meridian St., Suite 214. IOHC physicians also see patients at outreach clinics in Franklin, Batesville, Madison, Elwood, Crawfordsville, Winamac, Frankfort, Kokomo, Rensselaer and Monticello.

Appointments can be scheduled by calling 317-859-5252.

More information about St. Francis Cancer Care Services is at http://stfrancishospitals.org/Cancer.

Nurse navigator will guide lung cancer patients through treatment

INDIANAPOLIS – Cheryl Streeval, R.N., has been appointed as nurse navigator for the Lung Cancer Center at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers.

She will assist lung cancer patients and their families in coordinating diagnostic appointments and physician visits, help them manage their symptoms, provide education, make patients aware of clinical trial availability and very importantly, easing patient anxiety.

Streeval joins two other nurses at St. Francis who are designated as navigators to help patients with colorectal and head and neck cancers.

Streeval comes to her new position from University of Cincinnati Physicians, where she was an oncology research nurse. She oversaw pharmaceutical clinical trials and worked closely with patients to schedule treatments, scans and labs. She previously worked at Oncology/Hematology Care of Cincinnati as an oncology infusion nurse.

A resident of Columbus, Ind., Streeval earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing.

The St. Francis Lung Cancer Center is a multidisciplinary group of physician specialists experienced in and dedicated to the prevention and treatment of lung cancers.

The physicians of the Lung Cancer Center meet regularly to review and discuss treatment plans, examine new developments in clinical and basic science that could be beneficial to patients, adhere to evidence-based guidelines and protocols for patient care, and seek to enroll patients in the latest clinical research protocols.

More information about St. Francis Cancer Care Services is at http://stfrancishospitals.org/cancer.

New radiation therapy offers more effective, precise targeting of cancers

INDIANAPOLIS – Radiation therapy at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers is being delivered in a revolutionary way, providing physicians with more options and flexibility to precisely treat cancerous tissue.

It’s called TomoTherapy®, and it uses thousands of radiation beamlets delivered continuously 360 degrees around the patient.

Designed and built in the Midwest, the TomoTherapy unit at St. Francis is the first in use in central Indiana. Tomo means “slice” and since cancer is diagnosed looking at every angle, treatment can be given precisely to every slice with the help of computer assisted tomography (CT) scans generated by the TomoTherapy machine.

"St. Francis has recognized the need to provide the most precise treatment planning and delivery capabilities,” said Peter Garrett, M.D., medical director of oncology at St. Francis. "In patients we have treated to date, our expectations have been exceeded in the amount of healthy tissue that we can spare and by the quickness of the treatments, leading to a more convenient experience for the patients.”

Patients are treated with a helical mode of delivery (360 degrees of continuous treatment) which results in maximum dose delivered to the cancer site while sparing normal structures.

Patients are scanned before each treatment to confirm accuracy and then are targeted similar to a CT scan. The initial scan takes about five minutes and treatments, which are painless, begin immediately after the scan.

During a patient’s six-to-eight weeks of treatment, many physical changes can occur. Tumors shrink, organs move in the body and patients can gain or lose weight. This means initial treatment plans may be changed during therapy.

To accommodate these physical changes TomoTherapy uses an adaptive planning system. Since the TomoTherapy planning system is part of the overall unit, adjustments can be made to the original plan during the overall course of therapy, ensuring radiation delivery to the cancer immediately.

TomoTherapy is a complete package of treatment planning software, quality assurance tools, image acquisition and treatment delivery. Since all the data is in one system and not transferred between multiple systems, there is less risk of error.

Types of cancers ideally treated with TomoTherapy are prostate, head and neck and the central nervous system and all cranial tumors. All have critical normal tissues that are necessary to avoid yet require high doses of radiation for adequate treatment.”

The first patient treated with TomoTherapy was in 2003. More than 100 units are now being installed worldwide, according to TomoTherapy officials

More information about the Cancer Care Services program at St. Francis is at http://stfrancishospitals.org/cancer and at http://stfranciscancercare360.org. To learn more about TomoTherapy, go to www.tomotherapy.com.

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.

Colorectal surgeon honored with prestigious fellowship

INDIANAPOLIS – Bridget Sanders, M.D., has been named a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

Sanders practices with the Kendrick Regional Center for Colon and Rectal Care on the campuses of the St. Francis Mooresville and Indianapolis hospitals. She specializes in the treatment of pelvic floor disorders, as well as laparoscopic colon and rectal surgery.

A 1998 graduate of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Sanders completed her general surgery residency at IU and finished her fellowship in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Florida.

Sanders attained board certification from the American Board of Surgery and was board-certified in colon and rectal surgery in 2006.

She is a member of the ACS, American Women Surgical Association, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the Indiana State Medical Association, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and SAGES.

Sanders was named a Fellow during the ACS’s 93rd annual Clinical Congress, held recently in New Orleans.

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The organization has more than 72,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.

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Nurse navigators help cancer patients maneuver through treatment

INDIANAPOLIS – When first diagnosed with cancer, a person often feels set adrift in a murky sea of uncertainty and fear – and alone in their struggle.

But an innovative program at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers helps patients from the time of diagnosis throughout their treatment regimen. It’s the nurse navigator program and it’s designed for patients and their families with colorectal and head and neck cancers.

This nurse specialist assists patients in coordinating diagnostic appointments and physician visits, along with helping to manage symptoms, providing education, increasing awareness of clinical trial availability and very importantly, easing patient anxiety.

"We augment what’s being done on the clinical side by helping guide patients through every step of the treatment and beyond," said Karen Norris, R.N., nurse navigator at St. Francis’ Colorectal Cancer Center of Excellence. "It’s not enough for the technology to be good – you have to provide the human touch to the people you serve."

Norris, who took on her role as a nurse navigator in mid-2007, is an integral player on a team of more than 25 physician specialists including gastroenterologists, colorectal surgeons, general surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, family practice physicians and radiologists who comprise the Center.

"It truly is a collaborative effort and our physicians and other specialists do a wonderful job in communicating and coming together to decide what’s best for patients," Norris said.

Nurse Practitioner Janice Leak’s role as St. Francis’ other nurse navigator – she was the first in 2006 – has positioned her as a key link between physicians and patients receiving care for head and neck cancers. The patients Leak works with often go through different treatment phases, often a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and that means they will be seen by different physicians and technicians for tests and procedures.

Leak currently works with about 48 patients having head and neck-related cancers; Norris has a caseload of more than 70 patients at St. Francis hospitals in Indianapolis, Beech Grove and Mooresville.

"Cancer treatment can seem very complex and segmented to patients," Leak said. "That’s where a nurse navigator can be a common thread to help weave the patient through the process and so that they feel supported throughout the process."

Cheryl Snooks is one patient who has experienced that process. The business project manager was diagnosed with an oral-related cancer in 2006 at St. Francis and was immediately paired with Leak.

"As you go from diagnosis to treatment, your questions and concerns change," Snooks said. "It was helpful to have Janice there with the answers and to have a positive experience."

As part of the Center’s commitment to provide the newest technology and highest quality of care, Norris explained that all patients are screened for enrollment in clinical trials. These research studies are among nearly 100 now under way and overseen by the St. Francis Cancer Research Foundation.

The attention doesn’t end with treatment. Norris and Leak both follow up with their patients long after their therapies.
St. Francis also has plans to expand its nurse navigator program into lung cancer.

More information about Cancer Care Services at St. Francis is at http://stfrancishospitals.org/cancer.