Stanford Cancer Institute
Stanford Cancer Center
875 Blake Wilbur Drive
Stanford, CA 94305
(650) 498-6000
The Stanford Cancer Institute is a cancer treatment and research institute affiliated with the highly respected Stanford School of Medicine in Stanford, California. It is part of the Stanford Hospital & Clinics health system, a 613-bed hospital facility in California’s Bay Area. The cancer center ranked 12th in the country according to 2011-12 rankings by U.S. News & World Report, with a patient survival ranking of “better than expected.”
History
Stanford Medicine has a long history that begins more than 150 years ago with the founding of the University of the Pacific’s medical school, which would eventually become part of Stanford. Stanford Hospital dates back to 1919, when the Stanford Home for Convalescent Children opened its doors; over the coming decades the hospital changed ownership several times, eventually becoming Stanford Hospital. In 1959, the medical school and hospital moved from its San Francisco location to new quarters on the Stanford University campus.
Stanford Hospital grew considerably over the years, adding a children’s hospital and building new facilities for outpatient services, psychiatry and other specialties. In 2004, the Stanford Cancer Center was opened, bringing together under one roof all 80 cancer specialties that previously had been scattered throughout the medical center. In 2011, the cancer center’s name was officially changed to the “Stanford Cancer Institute” to underscore its role as one of five institutes at the hospital.
Mesothelioma Treatment at Stanford Cancer Institute
Mesothelioma patients at the Stanford Cancer Institute are treated through the institute’s Thoracic Oncology Program. Physicians there take a multidisciplinary approach, with specialists from surgical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, pulmonary medicine and other areas working together to create a specialized treatment plan for each patient. These doctors discuss their patients’ treatment plans at weekly meetings of the Multidisciplinary Thoracic Tumor Board.
A patient should expect to begin with a thorough diagnosis process, which may involve CT scans, PET imaging and fine needle aspiration as doctors collect as much information as possible about the patient’s cancer. Depending on the severity of the disease and the patient’s overall health, a physician may recommend a number of treatments. At the Stanford Cancer Institute, those could include a number of high-tech options, such as radiofrequency ablation, a minimally invasive procedure that uses a heat-generating catheter to target cancer cells, or the CyberKnife, an advanced device that uses computer technology to precisely deliver radiation therapy. Patients may also be offered participation in a clinical trial related to gene therapy or other experimental treatments.
All patients at the Stanford Cancer Institute are invited to take part in services from the Cancer Supportive Care Program, a free resource that strives to create a warm and nurturing environment for patients and their families. Offerings include healing-oriented hypnotherapy, writing workshops, numerous support groups for specific types of cancer, and even complimentary chair massages.
Sources
Stanford Cancer Institute
http://cancer.stanford.edu/
Stanford Hospital — History
http://stanfordhospital.org/aboutUs/history.html
U.S. News & World Report — Stanford Hospital & Clinics
http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/stanford-hospital-and-clinics-6932330/cancer
“Cancer Center: More Than a Building”
http://stanfordhospital.org/newsEvents/newsReleases/2008/moreThanABuilding.html
Stanford Cancer Institute — Mesothelioma
http://cancer.stanford.edu/lungcancer/mesothelioma.html
