Integrating Cancer Care

with Carl Olson, M.D., radiation oncologist, Columbia St. Mary’s

Last Updated: Aug. 1, 2003

Many people think of cancer care as something done after the illness is diagnosed. Or that the care ends when the cancer is vanquished or all treatments exhausted. But the Columbia St. Mary’s cancer program offers healthy and humane additions.

“The key concept is a continuum of care. This includes prevention, early detection, state-of-the-art treatments and surgery, palliative care when the cancer cannot be cured and ultimately a transition to a hospice setting,” said Dr. Carl Olson, a radiation oncologist and chairman of the Department of Radiation and Oncology at Columbia St. Mary’s.

Carl Olson, M.D., radiation oncologist, Chairman of the Dept. of Radiation and Oncology at Columbia St. Mary’s "Our job is walk with our patients and to be there for them all along the way."

Treatment
At Columbia St. Mary’s, skilled physicians use state-of-the-art procedures. “People come from all over the country, and the world, to see how we do things here,” Dr. Olson said.

For example, when treating breast cancer, minimally invasive surgery and sentinel node biopsies allow for preservation of much of the breast tissue. “Both of these were done very early at Columbia St. Mary’s and we continue to be a leader in these fields,” he said.

In addition Columbia St. Mary’s is a reference center for General Electric diagnostic and treatment equipment to do intensity modulated radiation therapy, high dose brachytherapy and prostate seed implants. “These minimize treatment to normal tissue and maximize it to the tumor,” Dr. Olson said.

Chemotherapy is done by several groups of physicians. In addition to standard treatments, they also are participating in national clinical research on newer methods. New methods of immunotherapy also are being done at the hospital, though on a lesser scale.

Prevention
Many cancer programs focus on just treatment but since the goal of medicine is to eradicate cancer, the first place to begin is with prevention. At Columbia St. Mary’s this includes diet and exercise classes and programs to quit smoking and to keep teenagers from smoking.

“Studies estimate that as much as a third of all cancers could be prevented with changes in diet and exercise. And people look for magic bullets for lung cancer, but the irony is we have a preventative thing for lung cancer – not smoking,” Dr. Olson said.

Early detection
Screening is vitally important because early detection is the key to curing nearly all cancers. Successful screens include those for colon cancer, prostate cancer, pap tests and mammograms.

Screening is vitally important because early detection is the key to curing nearly all cancers.

The success of screening in women’s health leads many to think there are routine screenings for all cancers, but this is not true. For most cancers, doctors still have to look for symptoms of the cancer or for risk factors in their patients.

One area now being studied is screening for lung cancer. Columbia St. Mary’s is part of a clinical study to see if CT scans can detect lung cancer early enough for it to be cured.

Relief of suffering
When caught early, cancer can often be a cured or forced into remission. Often this is done through surgery and follow-up treatment, but these can be painful. To alleviate this, Columbia St. Mary’s has a team of physicians and nurses that work with patients to make certain they are comfortable through the treatment and follow-up care.

“In addition, we embrace complimentary medicine that have some evidence-based results. For example, there is more and more data on acupuncture as beneficial for relief of pain and nausea. We are the only oncology department in the state that has an acupuncturist on staff and working with patients.

“Music therapy was one of our earliest complimentary programs. It may help some people relax and it has been proven that the immune system does better when it is not under stress,” the doctor said.

“Our concept is not to abandon traditional proven methods, but to get the best of both conventional and complimentary treatment,” he added.

End-of-life care
Some cancers are incurable and become a chronic disease that people have to live with – some for just months, others for many years. But when the battle nears its end, those suffering from cancer often need a special type of inpatient care.

St. Mary’s was one of the first hospitals in the country to have a hospice. It was opened in the late 1970s. It is still one of the only hospitals in the area with inpatient hospice care for symptom management that cannot be done at home.

“Our job is walk with our patients and to be there for them all along the way. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be able to share life with my patients,” Dr. Olson said.

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