Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos cancer such as pericardial mesothelioma, you ought to think about a number of issues when deciding which medical clinic or cancer center is best for your prognosis. Even though malignant mesothelioma (often referred to as asbestos lung cancer) is now understood as a risk of working with asbestos, occurrence of the disease is still still uncommon in the general populace; many clinicians have never encountered any patients with it. Therefore it is important that patients find medical professionals and medical centers that have experience in treating this deadly disorder; this is certainly a case where it is sensible to see someone who specializes in treating asbestos-related cancers. In addition to offering chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, many cancer treatment centers also have psychologists on staff to assist patients and their family come to terms with the difficulty of dealing with the cancer. Some parts of the nation don’t have specialized facilities for rare disorders such as pleural mesothelioma, in which case you might be required to travel some distance in order to obtain the best care.

The Fox Chase Cancer Center is the top cancer center in Pennsylvania. And was ranked 11th in the country by U.S. News & World Report in 2007. The institutions staff includes surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and radiologists who diagnose and treat virtually every type of cancer in all stages. In addition to conventional treatments, patients have the opportunity to participate in one of more that 170 clinical trials currently underway.

Fox Chase Cancer Center is home to the Lung Cancer Treatment Center, which treats all types of respiratory disorders including:

• mesothelioma
• thymoma
• pleural disease
• endobronchial disease
• non-small cell lung cancer
• small cell lung cancer

Oncologists and pulmonologists employ a wide variety of conventional and innovative treatment methods in the treatment of lung cancer.

Some of the new techniques available at Fox Chase include:

• induction therapy
• video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS)
• robotic-assisted thoracic surgery (using the Da Vinci system)
• radiofrequency ablation
• stereotactic radiotherapy
• photodynamic therapy
• laser photoradiation therapy
• brachytherapy
• airway stenting.

It should be noted that many of these treatments are not available at other cancer centers in the region.

Researchers at Fox Chase are currently investigating the role of specialized proteins as a means of early diagnosis for mesothelioma. With a program comprehensive pain relief for lung cancer patients Fox Chase Cancer Center offers some of the best cancer treatments available for those wealthy enough to afford it.