Patient Services

Specialists at UPMC Cancer Centers take a multidisciplinary approach to treating colorectal / GI cancer and pancreatic cancer. The patient care team includes surgeons, gastroenterologists, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists, as well as other personnel from the disciplines of hematology, oncology, medicine, surgery and pathology. New and follow-up patients are currently evaluated on the 2nd floor of Hillman Cancer Center (William M. Cooper Pavilion).

The patient care team uses surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and biotherapy to treat cancer, depending on the diagnosis and extent of the disease. New tools, including techniques that allow surgeons to operate more precisely and with smaller incisions, improved imaging techniques for more exact identification and location of tumorous tissues, and new methods for early tumor detection, are at the specialists' disposal.

More information about colon and GI cancer treatment options

Surgery

Multimodality Therapy

Laparoscopic Colectomy

Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy

Peritoneal Chemoperfusion at the David C. Koch Regional Perfusion Therapy Center

Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping

Overview of Colorectal Surgical Program

Overview of Endocrine Surgical Program for the Duodenum

Overview of Colon / GI Surgery

Radiotherapy

Radiofrequency Ablation

Radiation oncology overview

Medical therapies

Chemotherapy

Biological therapy

Specific services for colorectal cancer

• UPMC has a high-risk assessment clinic for patients with a family history of colon cancer or colon polyps. This clinic provides patients an opportunity to assess their own and their family's risk of developing bowel carcinoma. The clinic assesses the dietary and other environmental risks for cancer development and provides genetic testing and counseling services to assess the inherited risk of developing colorectal carcinoma. In addition, patients evaluated at this clinic have access to clinical trials assessing chemoprevention interventions.
• In collaboration with the UPMC Digestive Disorders Center, UPMC offers a low-cost flexible sigmoidoscopy program to improve early detection of colorectal cancer in at-risk patients.
• Genetic research studies underway have direct clinical implication in providing counseling and management of patients with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer.
• UPMC physicians have considerable experience using preoperative multimodality therapy for rectal cancers, with most patients achieving a satisfactory outcome.
• Surgeons are evaluating the use of sentinel node removal in staging colorectal cancer.
• Radiofrequency ablation is offered to patients with liver metastases.
• The Program offers innovative intrahepatic therapies for liver metastases.
• Intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy is done for selected patients with cancer confined to the abdominal cavity.
• The Colorectal and GI Cancer Program offers innovative clinical trials with new drugs.

Specific services for pancreatic cancer

• In collaboration with the UPMC Digestive Disorders Center, UPMC offers patients with pancreatic diseases a "fast-track" pancreas workup. This workup especially facilitates the staging and evaluation of patients who travel long distances. All testing can be performed within one to two days with a follow-up visit where each case is discussed in a clinical review or "second opinion" conference. A final report is forwarded to the patient and the referring physician. Special programs include genetics, CT angiography, rapid pancreatic mass workup with endoscopic ultrasound, minimally invasive surgical evaluation for cancer or pain management and magnetic resonance imaging cholangiography.
• The Program offers multidisciplinary cancer evaluation and patient care and it is experienced in developing clinical trials for advanced disease.
• Program surgeons have considerable experience treating patients with pancreatic cancer. The Program ranks as one of the major places in the country for Whipple procedures.
• UPMC serves as a referral center for pancreatic malignancies for the western Pennsylvania region and the adjoining parts of Ohio, West Virginia and New York.
• As an academic institution that has played a significant role in understanding the genetic basis of familial pancreatic cancer, UPMC can provide patients with extensive genetic counseling and testing services.

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New Patients

New patients should arrange for their medical records to be forwarded prior to their appointment or hand-deliver them the day of their appointment. All patients should hand-carry their radiology films including x-rays, CT scans, etc. for UPMC physicians to review. Patients may need to hand-carry their pathology slides to have them reviewed by our expert pathologists. A treatment plan is made through a collaborative effort among Program staff, surgeons, gastroenterologists, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists and/or pathologists. Patients should allow adequate time for a thorough examination and expect to provide a complete medical history, including current medications.

To schedule an appointment at UPMC Cancer Centers, contact the UPMC Cancer Centers Information and Referral Service at 412-647-2811 or 412-692-4724.