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Article Category: Highlights

Wellstar Partners with Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers for Collaborative Care

Published on April 23, 2021

Last updated 03:58 PM May 03, 2021

Cancer patient ringing the bell and the words VictoryOverCancerCare.

A cancer diagnosis can be unexpected and scary for both patients and their loved ones. But at Wellstar, we know the key to fighting cancer lies in a collaborative team approach.  

That’s why we’ve partnered with Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers (NGOC) to bring the highest level of expert cancer care to Georgia. Here, you will have a multidisciplinary team by your side — an entire group of experts who will take the time to get to know you and will help you face cancer with confidence. 

“We’re there for our patients, to come up with their cancer plan, to get them through that, but we also follow them, oftentimes for 5 years or 10 years, to make sure that their cancer doesn’t come back,” said Dr. Michael Andrews, chief cancer officer at Wellstar. “It can be a very rewarding and close relationship.” 

NGOC is a team of board-certified medical oncologists and hematologists passionate about fighting for each patient. They are leaders and innovators in community-based cancer care and focus on creating the best outcomes for each patient.  

And with convenient locations all throughout metro Atlanta, you can get the care you need without the added stress of travel. 

World-Class Cancer Care Close to Home

Customized, Cutting-Edge Care

Approximately 1.9 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the United States every year, but we know that every patient is different, from their bodies to their genetics to their lifestyles. Your care team will work with you on a personalized treatment plan tailored just for you.  

And cancer care has evolved from just the chemotherapies of years past.  Now more than ever, Georgia cancer patients can successfully be treated with the help of Wellstar’s expert multidisciplinary team of providers. 

The Wellstar cancer team is on the cutting edge of cancer treatments, including genetics-based immunotherapies and more than 20 active clinical trials. Cancer specialists are involved in the latest research, giving patients access to the newest treatment options before they are widely available. A multidisciplinary team of compassionate oncologists, radiologists, surgeons, nurse navigators and other care professionals dedicated to patient care develops customized treatment plans tailored for the best outcomes.  

Expert Care Close to You

Wellstar’s mission is to enhance the health and wellbeing of everyone we serve, and our communities deserve the best care possible, close to home.

NGOC medical oncologists manage infusion centers at:

  • Wellstar Kennestone Hospital
  • Wellstar Cobb Hospital
  • Wellstar North Fulton Hospital
  • Wellstar Douglas Hospital 
  • Wellstar Paulding Hospital 
  • Wellstar Cherokee Health Park 
  • Jasper
  • Cartersville

Call (770) 956-STAR (7827) today to setup an appointment and learn how you can partner with Wellstar and NGOC in conquering cancer. 

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Michael Bryan Andrews Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers Wellstar - 2500 Hospital Boulevard Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers Wellstar - 340 Kennestone Hospital Boulevard
Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers Wellstar - 144 Bill Carruth Parkway Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers Wellstar - 1120 Wellstar Way Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers Wellstar - 1020 J L White Drive Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers Wellstar - 1700 Hospital South Drive Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers Wellstar - 6002 Professional Parkway Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers Wellstar - 100 Market Place Boulevard Cancer Care
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Illustration of provider looking at colon with magnifying glass

Highlights

Wellstar Offers Advanced Colorectal Cancer Care Close to Home

When a Wellstar patient is diagnosed with colorectal cancer, their multidisciplinary care team works with them to create a personalized care plan, with advanced, expert treatment available at every step of the cancer journey. 

Innovative surgery options

Robotic surgeries offer patients several benefits such as less recovery pain, less blood loss, fewer complications and shorter hospital stays, or for some outpatient procedures, no hospital stay at all. That means patients can start living cancer-free sooner and get back to their routines and the activities they enjoy. 

About 85% of colorectal cancer surgeries at Wellstar are now robotic procedures, said Wellstar Surgical Oncologist Dr. Sartaj Sanghera. 

“Robotic surgery has really provided us the tools as far as the instruments and vision so that a larger cohort of surgeons in general, colorectal surgeons and surgical oncologists have been able to adopt the technology,” Dr. Sanghera said.

Patients with smaller, early-stage tumors may be candidates for transanal minimally invasive surgery, known as TAMIS. Rather than making an incision in the abdomen to remove a tumor, the surgeon is able to access the tumor through the anus.

“It is working through a natural orifice, through the anus. It’s not actually poking a hole in the belly,” Dr. Sanghera said. “It’s really minimally invasive.”

TAMIS is usually offered as an outpatient surgery with no hospital stay. It has been especially helpful in treating patients who may be at higher risk with traditional surgery due to their age or comorbidities, Dr. Sanghera said.

New approach to treatment is improving outcomes

The colorectal cancer experts at Wellstar have adopted a relatively new approach to treatment called total neoadjuvant therapy, or TNT — making surgery the last step in the cancer treatment process. Patients receive chemotherapy and radiation first, then finish treatment with surgery.

“Recognizing that rectal cancer is a systemic disease, with risks of spreading to other parts of the body, we have evolved in our management of rectal cancer, offering an operation as the last step in the treatment process,” said Wellstar Surgical Oncologist Dr. Sahir Shroff.

Wellstar has seen positive results with this technique.

“We have adopted that approach for nearly all patients now,” said Wellstar Hematologist and Oncologist Dr. John French. “We are seeing that if you do that approach, it’s safe, more patients are able to complete all the therapy lines, and we are noticing an increase in pathologic complete response rates.”

Pathologic complete response describes the absence of any detectable cancer cells in a tissue sample following a particular treatment. It refers to the absence of cancer cells in the area of the body where the tumor was originally located, as well as anywhere the cancer may have spread.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is based on the concept that a patient’s own immune system can fight their cancer.

When given, immunotherapy drugs wake up the patient’s own immune system to recognize and fight the cancer.Colorectal cancer patients are screened for four proteins that help with DNA repair. If these proteins are missing or mutated, the patient is more likely to respond to immunotherapy.

While immunotherapy has been groundbreaking in the treatment of stage 4 colorectal cancer, only about 15% of patients are found to be eligible for the treatment based on their protein screenings, Dr. French said. 

If you are interested in immunotherapy, ask your provider about your care options.

Top-of-the-line rectal cancer care

Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center has received accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons. 

To achieve voluntary NAPRC accreditation, a rectal center must demonstrate compliance with the NAPRC standards addressing program management, clinical services and quality improvement for patients. Centers are required to establish a multidisciplinary rectal cancer team that includes clinical representatives from surgery, pathology, radiology, radiation oncology and medical oncology.

Accreditation by the NAPRC is granted only to those programs that are committed to providing the best possible care to patients with rectal cancer.

Your cancer care team at Wellstar will advocate for you to receive the most effective treatment possible.

Learn more about colorectal cancer care at Wellstar.

Keep reading
Illustration of Ion system

Highlights

Lung Biopsy Technology at Wellstar Reduces Complications, Speeds Up Treatment

Innovative technology at Wellstar is offering patients a new, minimally invasive option for lung biopsies, reducing complications and helping expedite lung cancer treatment.

The Ion system is a robotic-assisted platform for performing lung biopsies. If a lung cancer screening or any other CT scan shows a suspicious nodule, providers will need to perform a biopsy to determine if the patient has lung cancer and how to proceed with care.

“Those nodules may not be cancer, but in certain situations we still need to know what it is,” said Wellstar Pulmonologist Dr. Timothy Udoji. “The Ion technology helps us biopsy those nodules to get an answer so that additional workup can be done immediately. If it is cancer, we want to catch it at an early stage.”

The system uses a three-dimensional spatial recognition technology that helps guide a catheter down the airway, deep into the lung, all the way to small nodules where biopsies can be performed. The robotic catheter maintains its shape and stability throughout the biopsy process significantly improving diagnostic yield compared to other modalities.

“The better the image and the more certainty we have of the spatial location of the catheter, the better we can avoid complications by making sure we are not too close to a blood vessel or the edge of the lung,” said Wellstar Thoracic Surgeon Dr. Daniel Fortes.

During the biopsy, providers can also use the Ion system to mark an area in the lung, making it easier to find later during surgery.

“If something is very small and hard to find in surgery, Ion can be used to mark that area with dye, or contrast, that allows us to find it in surgery,” Dr. Fortes said. “With this technology added to the surgical robotic system in the operating room, we can better identify those lesions and remove smaller portions of lung, also called segments.”

Technology to help provide peace of mind

The Ion system also has further reach than previous technologies and is able to more easily biopsy nodules in the peripheral areas of the lung. For many cancer patients, this will allow them to initiate care earlier and improve their outcomes, as well as give them peace of mind during the treatment process.

“Mental health impacts physical health. We are able to confidently biopsy and identify these nodules and that means a lot for our patients,” Dr. Udoji said. “Now, with this new technology we are able to get a biopsy done much earlier which has huge outcome implications for malignant nodules.”

At Wellstar, cancer care is tailored for each patient. In the Wellstar STAT Clinic for Lung Cancer, patients meet with multiple specialists at once to discuss their care options and create a personalized treatment plan. Specialists in the STAT Clinics, which are located at Wellstar Cobb, Kennestone, North Fulton and West Georgia medical centers, work with patients to determine the optimal course of treatment and will talk with patients and families about biopsy options, including the Ion system. The STAT Clinics give patients the opportunity to have their diagnoses managed right away, and literature shows that the clinics’ diagnostic and treatment model improves outcomes for patients.

The Ion system is currently in use at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center. Learn more about lung cancer care at wellstar.org/lungcancer.

Keep reading
Illustration of a person receiving an advanced radiation therapy treatment.

Newsroom

Wellstar Paulding Medical Center Breaks Ground on New Radiation Technology

Wellstar Health System announced a multimillion-dollar investment to bring cutting-edge radiation therapy to Wellstar Paulding Medical Center in Hiram, Georgia on November 2, 2022.

“Our motto is ‘Neighbors Caring for Neighbors’ and these new technologies will enhance access to medical care for every neighbor in Paulding County,” said Ralph Turner, Wellstar senior vice president and president of Wellstar Paulding Medical Center. “Our team is focused on providing a patient-centric experience. Having a short drive and the comforts of home and family nearby helps the healing process.”

Breaking ground for groundbreaking radiation technology

The expansion will enhance the patient experience by adding a new radiation vault to house a second linear accelerator — the technology that delivers radiation therapy — and is slated for completion in early 2023.

In the last year, patients received nearly 8,000 radiation treatments. The radiation oncology team often extended hours from 7 a.m. until 7 or 8 p.m. to accommodate patients.

During a recent press conference, a group of patients, physicians, healthcare leaders, team members, government leaders and community partners ceremonially broke ground on the major expansion of Wellstar Radiation Oncology. The facility is located on the ground floor of Wellstar Paulding Medical Center’s Outpatient Pavilion at 148 Bill Carruth Parkway in Hiram, Georgia.

The new machine will also bring a leading-edge cancer treatment called stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to Paulding County for the first time. This radiation technology uses multiple X-ray beams to treat tumors with highly precise, high-dose radiation to any location in the body, preserving surrounding tissue, organs and nerves. The technology allows patients to have significantly fewer treatment sessions.

“This is a huge step forward for cancer care for the people of Paulding County,” said Dr. William Thoms, who has served as the radiation oncology medical director for Wellstar Paulding Medical Center since 2017. “This expansion will allow people to stay in our community for more advanced treatments with shorter wait times.”

The renovation will also modernize the dressing rooms and add more space to increase patient comfort.

In the last year, patients received nearly 8,000 radiation treatments. The radiation oncology team (pictured) often extended hours from 7 a.m. until 7 or 8 p.m. to accommodate patients.

Hospital leaders hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking on a major expansion of Wellstar Radiation Oncology at Wellstar Paulding Medical Center. Here, a group holds shovels and wear hard hats at the site of construction.

A rendering of what the new LINAC radiation therapy machine will look like..

Learn more about Wellstar Paulding Medical Center.

Keep reading
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