Englewood Health News

The New Face of Personalized Cancer Care

The New Face of Personalized Cancer Care

A letter from Steven Brower, MD

 

Letter from Steven Brower, MD

Dr Steven BrowerDr. Steven Brower is the medical director of The Lefcourt Family Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, and a nationally recognized hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal cancer surgeon. He performs complex surgeries related to cancers of the liver, pancreas, stomach, esophagus and rare GI tumors. He has been named as one of New York Magazine’s Best Doctors, Inside Jersey’s Top Doctors and Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors.

Cancer care has entered a new era at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, where specialists and researchers work together to provide the most technically advanced surgery, radiation therapy and comprehensive chemotherapy with compassionate care. The expansion of The Lefcourt Family Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center, now spanning 185,000 square feet, brings together highly trained subspecialty oncologists within multidisciplinary disease management teams for individual personalized cancer treatment.

The space was designed to enhance patient comfort and convenience, and is infused with the latest technology for the most accurate screening, imaging, diagnosis and cancer staging. Patients with both early-stage and advanced cancers will find experts with many years of experience to treat them with individualized attention to their particular tumor type. Although we are experienced in the most common cancers such as breast, lung, colorectal and prostate, complex cancers of the gastrointestinal, genitourinary, endocrine, head and neck, and skin systems will also receive a personalized approach to diagnosis and treatment.

This treatment approach marries the expertise of our cancer specialists with a commitment to providing the best patient experience and outcome. Bringing cancer care to another level, the center also focuses on conducting clinical trials and research targeting effective treatments, risk for recurrence and survival outcomes.

Here at Englewood Hospital, we make predictions about prognoses and response based on our laboratory work, which uses molecular medicine to create personalized medicine. The laboratory work can reveal components of cancer risk and how patients may respond to treatment. We test a patient’s tumor for genetic abnormalities and prescribe targeted, personalized care.

For instance, some of Englewood Hospital’s patients are at high risk for developing cancer because they have colitis, an inflammation of the colon. Our surgeons are among the most experienced in the region for performing robotic and minimally invasive colorectal surgery that can preserve sphincter function and maintain a normal degree of function. If a damaged colon or rectum must be removed, it may be possible to create a new kind of rectal pouch to preserve the patient’s function and avoid the need for a colostomy.

Englewood Hospital sees 1,500 to 2,000 new cancer patients each year. With stereotactic radiation therapy, our doctors seek to treat the tumor and spare surrounding normal tissue. Our medical oncologists are utilizing high-throughput gene chip-based technology to prescribe the newest molecular target and immunotherapy drugs to extend survival in our patients.

When patients with cancer come to us, we know they’re scared and anxious. We want them to know there’s a team with them every step of the way, and they aren’t alone.

Posted March 2017

A letter from Steven Brower, MD

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