It’s Important to Be Treated at a Hospital Specializing in Mesothelioma Care
Mesothelioma is a relatively rare form of cancer. Because of its rarity, not all hospitals and clinics are equipped to offer the best possible care for patients stricken with it.
It is strongly recommended that persons newly diagnosed with mesothelioma seek care from one of the hospitals and clinics that offer treatment specifically for this type of cancer.
Such hospitals have the technology and expertise to address mesothelioma—not only medically but in other ways that matter to patients and their families. These include support networks and essential services to aid in daily living.
For that reason, patients hoping to live longer and better despite mesothelioma should as soon as possible after diagnosis begin the process of exploring mesothelioma hospitals and clinics. The temptation is to settle for care offered at the nearest general medical center.
What a mesothelioma hospital offers
A mesothelioma unit may have its own dedicated doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Or it may have clinicians who also work with comparable cancers, such as lung cancer. Either way, the doctors, nurses, and others assigned to the mesothelioma unit have higher-level understanding of this disease.
Something else a mesothelioma hospital offers is treatment built around the most advanced drugs, protocols, and technologies. Typically, few general hospitals can match these cutting-edge care elements.
Mesothelioma hospitals are often on the very forefront of research. This is reflected by their keen interest in organizing or helping to conduct clinical trials. Mesothelioma hospital patients usually have first crack at participating in clinical trials of mesothelioma-related therapies and protocols.
Finding a mesothelioma hospital
Nearly every state has at least one mesothelioma hospital or clinic. The most heavily populated states each have several. Usually, mesothelioma hospitals are part of an academic medical center, for it is at university facilities where the majority of important cancer research is conducted.
It’s helpful to bear in mind that no two mesothelioma hospitals or clinics are the same. Each has a different care strategy, different technology complement, and different ways of measuring success. Before choosing one of these hospitals, patients are advised to obtain from the American Cancer Society this free worksheet.
Contained in that worksheet is space for the patient to list the services a candidate mesothelioma hospital or clinic offers. If certain services are absent from the list, it may mean that to obtain them the mesothelioma patient might need to be transferred elsewhere. Ideally, all services a patient needs should be available onsite, at the mesothelioma hospital. Having to transfer out to receive some services can subject the patient to inconvenience and discomfort.
A mesothelioma hospital should offer at least these services onsite: emergency room, diagnostic lab, blood bank, pathology lab, respiratory care department, physical rehabilitation department, and outpatient infusion center. There should also be a tumor board at which oncologists meet once or twice a week to discuss difficult cases and pool their knowledge to come up with good solutions.
Usually worth considering are mesothelioma hospitals and clinics accredited by the Joint Commission, National Cancer Institute (NCI), or National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).
The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits U.S.-based hospitals and other types of healthcare facilities. The Joint Commission’s evaluation process is rigorous and—if accreditation is granted—must be repeated three years later (plus every three years after that) in order to remain accredited.
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the NCI confers its stamp of approval on cancer centers that demonstrate comprehensive excellence in the areas of cancer treatment and outcomes, especially those that emphasize research and clinical trials. The NCI does not recognize just any cancer center—so far, only a fraction over 70 have made the grade.
Perhaps most the demanding of these three organizations is the NCCN. Only about 30 facilities have managed to obtain the NCCN seal of approval.
Ask the doctor for a referral
The first doctor who breaks the news to the patient concerning a diagnosis of mesothelioma is often a primary care physician, a radiologist, or an emergency room medic. Because mesothelioma is a rare cancer, these doctors will almost certainly refer the patient to a local oncologist (an oncologist is a cancer specialist).
The newly diagnosed mesothelioma patient should ask this oncologist (or even the primary care physician) to recommend the best mesothelioma hospital or clinic.
Other resources for obtaining recommendations:
Consult the magazine U.S. News & World Report. Each year, it evaluates nearly 900 hospital-based cancer programs around the country and then ranks them, putting the Top 50 in a list. Click here to access the magazine’s most recent “Best Hospitals for Cancer” rankings.
Another good resource is the American College of Surgeons. It administers an accreditation program called the Commission on Cancer. This body identifies and celebrates those cancer-center programs that have demonstrated a continuous commitment to “improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients.” Click here to see the latest list.
The Association of Community Cancer Centers is a membership organization to which nearly 700 hospitals and clinics belong. The organization’s website includes a searchable database of member institutions. The website is accessible here.
Mesothelioma patients who served in the U.S. military are generally eligible to receive treatment at medical centers and hospitals run by the Veterans Administration. A number of these hospitals are highly regarded for the quality of their mesothelioma treatment services. Use the VA’s searchable database to look for those particular facilities. Click here to see the results of a search using the term “mesothelioma hospitals.”
More information about mesothelioma clinics and hospitals is available by downloading this free guide. In it is a roundup of the leading U.S. centers for the treatment of mesothelioma and asbestos disease, plus a state-by-state listing of all mesothelioma cancer centers.