IN THE REALM OF CANCER CARE, ongoing innovation is essential to not only improve the lives and outcomes for patients living with cancer today, but also to ensure future patients will have access to the highest-quality care and cutting-edge therapies. Always striving to provide world-class care for patients, The Toledo Clinic Cancer Centers (TCCC) embraces—and continually contributes to—innovation in diagnostics, therapeutics, ancillary services, and all other aspects of cancer treatment.
Toledo Clinic Cancer Centers hematologist/ oncologist Rex Mowat, MD, offers his perspective on this commitment to innovation: “I want to keep seeing better results and improved outcomes for patients than we’re seeing today. That means refusing to accept the status quo and always embracing the latest advances under the guidance of data, clinical trials, and what’s being done with success at other institutions across the country and around the world.”
Clinical trials are a major engine for cancer-care innovation, and TCCC boasts the most robust clinical trial program in our area, consistently enrolling more patients in cutting-edge research studies than any other cancer center. “We currently have about 40 active trials here at The Toledo Clinic, and we’re planning to ramp up that number in partnership with other institutions so we can bring even more high-quality research to Northwest Ohio,” Dr. Mowat states.
The innovation Dr. Mowat identifies as the most significant in terms of its impact on cancer care is the Human Genome Project, which achieved complete mapping of the human gene pool and vastly improved our understanding of DNA mutations that can cause cancer and the genetic characteristics of specific cancer types so therapies can be targeted more effectively. “Cracking the genetic code led to tremendous downstream benefits,” he says. “Like the domino effect, one puzzle piece after another fell into place, ultimately yielding hundreds and hundreds of innovations.”
Dr. Mowat notes that the field of cancer care has seen dramatic growth in new drug classes as well. In fact, in approximately the last six years, around 180 new cancer-fighting drugs have been introduced. In the three decades prior to this explosion in treatment options, doctors had only about 18 chemotherapy drugs of varied efficacy to choose from.
Among the many exciting new drug classes are monoclonal antibody therapies and CAR T-cell therapies, both of which use aspects of the body’s natural immune response to attack cancer. “Before, the body wasn’t able to recognize cancer as a foreign invader that needs to be attacked because it came from the same body. In that way, cancer was a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing.’ That all changed with the advent of immune therapies. We’re also now able to augment chemotherapy with immune therapy and other targeted therapies, which is leading to much better outcomes because you have the immune system fighting the cancer right alongside the chemotherapy agent,” he states.
A very current example of The Toledo Clinic’s commitment to innovation is the new Toledo Clinic Cancer Centers location next to Side Cut Crossings in Maumee, which is slated to open next year. This 70,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art healthcare campus will offer patient-centered cancer care and cutting-edge therapies and treatments, including telemedicine services, in partnership with three leading cancer-treatment providers—the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer institute in Michigan, UTMC’s Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center, and The Maurer Family Cancer Care Center at Wood County Hospital in Bowling Green.
Notwithstanding all the exciting treatment advances, Dr. Mowat believes one particular area of cancer care could be vastly improved with more innovative thought—the cost of treatment. “We really have to innovate to reduce costs. In other industries, technological innovation tends to lead to lower consumer costs, but this doesn’t seem to hold true for healthcare. For instance, the way we obtain biopsies is so much better now. In the past, we had to perform open surgery and patients would be in the hospital for a week. Now, we can do biopsies on an outpatient basis, often robotically, so the patient is in and out on the same day. So, we’ve saved patients a lot of time and vastly improved their comfort and convenience, but costs are still high. If we would only apply all our brainpower to finding ways to lower costs, we could reach a lot more patients with those innovative therapies. That’s just one more reason we can’t settle for the status quo,” Dr. Mowat says.
The Toledo Clinic Cancer Centers, located at 4126 N. Holland Sylvania Road, Suite 105, also provides imaging, laboratory, chemotherapy and IV services. The cancer center consists of 7 medical and 3 radiation oncologists along with 8 nurse practitioners and 4 research nurses. The cancer center also has satellite centers in Maumee, Napoleon, Bowling Green, Wauseon, and Monroe.
The Toledo Clinic Cancer Centers has earned Patient-Centered Specialty Practice level 3 recognition and Oncology Medical Home recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Oncology homes align systems and resources with coordinated care focused on cancer patients and their needs. This reduces fragmentation, supports shared decision making, and improves the patient experience. They are the first oncology practice in the state of Michigan and the second oncology practice in the state of Ohio to receive this recognition.
For more information, please call The Toledo Clinic Cancer Centers at 419-479-5605.
