Establishing the multidisciplinary care of patients with cancer in the state of Delaware.

Abstract

Delaware has the fifth highest cancer death rate in the U.S. As part of a comprehensive program to decrease the cancer mortality and incidence in the state, an infrastructure to establish the multidisciplinary care of patients with cancer was established. In May 2002, Christiana Care Health Services opened the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center to meet the specific need for coordinated and centralized comprehensive cancer care. This effort took the cooperation of many individuals in a community-based teaching hospital, the largest of six acute care hospitals in the state. These efforts have led to a 13% accrual rate to the Community Clinical Oncology Program funded by the National Cancer Institute. The effort also led to the establishment of multidisciplinary disease site centers with representation from the three major physician disciplines of surgery, medical oncology, and radiation oncology. In addition, translational research projects, a tissue procurement center, and genetic counseling and testing with the establishment of a high-risk family cancer registry and collaborative efforts with hospitals across the state were established. The current article reviewed the continued success of this program in the state of Delaware in the effort to reduce the cancer incidence and mortality.