Providence Cancer Center at Alaska Medical Center, Anchorage, Alaska
The Providence Cancer Center at Alaska Medical Center features multiple departments and resources for patients diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other malignancies including cancer research and clinical trials, the Alaska CyberKnife Center, the Lee Sheffield Infusion Center, nutritional counseling, Oncology Rehabilitation, Cancer Patient Navigation, and Radiation Oncology. The center’s history dates back to 1902 when the Sisters of Providence first brought health care to Nome, Alaska during the Gold Rush. Providence Alaska Medical Center is the state’s largest hospital.[1] It provides full-service, comprehensive care, including cutting-edge cancer care.
Pleural Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer Care at the Providence Cancer Center of Alaska Medical Center
Patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer face significant medical challenges, but the thoracic cancer care team at Providence Cancer Center provides patient-centered treatment specific to their conditions and needs. Patients are evaluated by a multidisciplinary tumor board that works together with patients to create a treatment plan that meets each patient’s needs and goals. The department offers the most effective therapies for thoracic cancer, starting with advanced testing and diagnostic tools that evaluate cancer type and the genetic or molecular profile of the tumor.[1]
Diagnostic tools include biopsy, fine needle aspiration biopsy, genetics and genomics, MRI, and PET/CT scan. Once your condition has been diagnosed and staged, the team will design an individualized cancer care plan that may include systemic therapies including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or molecularly targeted therapy; surgical therapies including pleuroscopy, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), robotic wedge resection, lung lobectomy, pneumonectomy, and video-mediastinoscopy; and radiation therapy including brachytherapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, surface-guided radiation therapy, and three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy.[1]
Notable Staff and Mesothelioma Specialists
Providence Cancer Center is Alaska’s only full-service cancer center. Its staff is a multidisciplinary team of radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, over 100 physicians with thoracic and cardiothoracic surgery experience, and pulmonologists who meet weekly to review and discuss each patient’s case and provide the best possible treatment. The facility offers the Providence Molecular Tumor Board that evaluates the genomic and clinical information of patients with mesothelioma and lung cancer to find the best genetically matched, leading-edge treatment, as well as robotic and video-assisted surgery capabilities.[1]
Beyond on-site cancer care, patients being treated at Providence Cancer Center in Anchorage benefit from the largest community-based cancer network in the country, where the local thoracic cancer care team can share knowledge and experience with clinicians across 51 hospitals in seven states.[1]
