NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., July 16, 2018 --- Among cancer types,
pancreatic cancer is one of the most ruthless killers. Growing quietly, with no discernible
symptoms, pancreatic cancer is usually undetected until it has grown too
advanced to treat effectively. Unlike most cancers, pancreatic cancer
kills nearly as many people each year as those who develop the disease,
with a majority of people dying within the first eight months of detection.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian
is one of the first hospitals in the nation to create a program targeted
at finding pancreatic cancer early, when it might still be treatable.
The
Anita Erickson Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Program offers people who have a family history the opportunity to receive testing
and aggressive surveillance in hopes of finding cancer early enough for
treatment.
“Typically, pancreatic cancer is identified at a late stage, where
medical intervention is very limited,” said
Valentina Dalili-Shoaie, M.D., medical geneticist and one of the physician leaders for the early detection
program. “But if we can proactively monitor these patients at higher
risk and detect cancer at an early stage, we can successfully surgically
remove the tumors and increase survival rates.”
Hoag’s team includes a geneticist, genetic counselors, gastroenterologists,
GI surgeons and a clinical nurse navigator who work together to detect
early stage pancreatic cancer through labs, imaging and diagnostic testing,
as well as genetic counseling and testing.
As part of the program, participants submit their de-identified information
to take part in a registry, shared by similar organizations in the nation.
This database will help future clinicians to better understand this complex
disease and how to effectively treat and manage it.
Nearly 10 percent of pancreatic cancers are hereditary. Other risk factors
include obesity, smoking and diabetes.
Individuals with family members who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,
or those with positive genetic test results in certain genes, may qualify
for the program and the registry. For the future of medicine, this program
represents invaluable information.
Only five other hospitals in the nation offer a program like this, and
none are in Southern California. Hoag developed this program to address
the rising cases of pancreatic cancer in the United States.
“This is new territory for us, and with pancreatic cancer on the
rise, this is an issue that cannot be ignored,” Dr. Dalili-Shoaie
said. “Our goal is to get the upper hand on the disease.”
By identifying high-risk patients and offering them regular imaging and
ultrasounds, Dr. Dalili-Shoaie says the program hopes to empower people
with a family history of pancreatic cancer to take control of their health.
The program is part of Hoag’s larger commitment to encouraging early
detection. Hoag offers similar surveillance and high-risk programs for
breast and ovarian cancer, melanoma, skin cancer, head and neck cancers,
lung cancer and prostate cancer.
ABOUT HOAG MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PRESBYTERIAN
Hoag is an approximately $1 billion nonprofit, regional health care delivery
network in Orange County, California, that treats more than 30,000 inpatients
and 425,000 outpatients annually. Hoag consists of two acute-care hospitals
– Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, which opened in 1952, and Hoag Hospital
Irvine, which opened in 2010 – in addition to eight health centers
and eleven urgent care centers. Hoag is a designated Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Hoag offers
a comprehensive blend of health care services that includes five institutes
providing specialized services in the following areas:
cancer,
heart and vascular,
neurosciences,
women’s health, and orthopedics through Hoag’s affiliate,
Hoag Orthopedic Institute, which consists of an orthopedic hospital and two ambulatory surgical centers.
In 2013, Hoag entered into an alliance with St. Joseph Health to further
expand health care services in the Orange County community, known as St.
Joseph Hoag Health. Hoag has been named one of the Best Regional Hospitals
in the 2017 - 2018
U.S. News & World Report, andBecker’s Healthcare named Hoag as one of the 2018 “100 Great Hospitals in America”
– a designation Hoag has received five times. For an unprecedented
22 years, residents of Orange County have chosen Hoag as one of the county’s
best hospitals in a local newspaper survey. Visit
www.hoag.org for more information.
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To download the official press release, please click
here.