Empowering Yourself through Cancer Research
We’ve posted before about reliable websites for cancer research. Today, we talk about how to zero in on trustworthy treatment information for specific types of cancer. We’ll focus on two resources, both of which come highly recommended from the Mayo Clinic.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network®
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network, known as NCCN®, is an alliance of leading cancer centers dedicated to patient care, research and education. Its members include such highly-regarded centers as the Mayo Clinic, Duke Cancer Institute and Stanford Cancer Institute. Together, member organizations review research to provide patients with treatment recommendations.
NCCN provides evidence-based treatment guidelines for specific types of cancer, including:
Breast (with specialized information for each stage)
Colon
Esophageal
Leukemia (acute lymphoblastic, chronic lymphocytic and chronic myelogenous)
Hodgkin Lymphoma
Ovarian
Pancreatic
Prostate
Soft Tissue Sarcoma
For the full list of cancer treatment guides, see NCCN’s Patient Resources by Cancer Type. When you click on a cancer type, you’ll find a thorough booklet that you can flip through online or download to review or share with family at your convenience.
PDQ® Cancer Information Summaries
The PDQ summaries from the National Cancer Institute offer evidence-based treatment information for over 70 types of common and rare cancers. You can access summaries for:
Under each type of cancer, click on “patient” for a comprehensive look at that particular cancer as well as an overview of treatment options. To go straight to treatment options, see the “sections” area to the right of the page. The treatment information is regularly reviewed and updated by experts in oncology, radiation oncology and surgical oncology.
Why is This Important?
Your doctor is your best resource when it comes to discussing cancer. At The Ghosh Center, we welcome questions and provide patients with access to all available treatments and technology. Guidelines like these will prepare you, let you dig deeper and help you ask informed questions of the whole healthcare team.
Because being your own advocate is every patient’s job.