“The affiliation with Duke Health
represents an important and
exciting step in our cancer mission,”
said CalvertHealth Cancer Program
Director Dr. Theodore Tsangaris. “If
I could sum it up in one word this
affiliation represents excellence. It
means we have now joined forces
with excellence in everything they
do. And it means our patients have
access to that excellence in cancer
care right here in our community.”
The new affiliation is the centerpiece of bringing the
best oncology care available today to Calvert. The
Duke Cancer Network is backed by the resources
of the Duke Cancer Institute, ranked among the top
four percent of U.S. centers designated as a National
Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“They are a true leader in their field,” said
Dr. Tsangaris, “focused on developing new and
better approaches to preventing, diagnosing and
treating cancer.” He went on to add, “This relationship
allows us to receive the most current training and
staff education when it comes to cancer care. More
importantly, it will enable us to bring clinical trials to
our community. Plus, their experts will be collaborating
with clinical teams treating patients locally.”
In addition to having clinical trials locally,
CalvertHealth cancer patients can also expect
to receive access to the latest thinking in cancer
treatment for their particular disease, second
opinion service from Duke Health and conciergelevel
service for any services they may need from
the Duke Cancer Network.
Ready Access to Leading Cancer Experts
Among many other benefits, the affiliation will give
our providers easy access to second opinions from all
types of cancer subspecialists working at the academic
level and will link these specialists with our oncology
team for tumor boards and cancer conferences where
treatment planning for local patients is discussed.
“In our community, we are challenged by seeing
all kinds of cancers,” said medical oncologist
Dr. Bilal Ahmed. “You don’t know who your next
patient is going to be and that is why having easy
access to cancer experts at this level is so exciting.
I will be able to closely collaborate
for instance with a lung cancer
doctor who travels the world and just
does lung cancer, who knows what
treatments have just been approved
and a lot of what is in the pipeline.”
Learning from the Best
“Having the ability to access the
tremendous educational resources of
Duke Cancer Network for our entire
team is an incredible opportunity,”
said medical oncologist Dr. Arati
Patel. “Oncology is a field of
medicine that is rapidly changing
and being able to learn from some
of the country’s top researchers will
directly impact our ability to bring
exceptional care to our patients and
our community.”
“Cancer is not just one disease.
It is many different diseases and
different for each patient,” she
explained. “Our affiliation with Duke
Cancer Network will enable us to
advance, adapt and accelerate our
efforts to give each patient what
they really need.”
Advancing Care Through Clinical Trials
Another advantage of the affiliation
is the access local patients will
have to the kind of groundbreaking
clinical trials only available at the
best cancer hospitals in the country.
“Every significant advancement
that has ever been made in the
management of cancer, taking care
of patients, bringing new treatments
to the clinic, has always been
predicated upon clinical trials,” said
medical oncologist Dr. Kenneth
Abbott. “It remains, to this day, the
gold standard for the treatment of
cancer patients.”
According to Dr. Patel, there
are clinical trials in every aspect of
caring for the patient. “So, being able to
have access to clinical trials allows our
patients to have access to newer and
very innovative strategies.” She went
on to add, “This gives them access
like we have never had before in a
community setting.”
Additionally, Duke Cancer
Network will play a pivotal role
in guiding the development of
CalvertHealth’s clinical trials program
locally using best practices garnered
from 50 years of research.
Why Duke Health?
- Expertise in collaborating
with other community
hospitals
- Affiliate network unmatched
by any other comprehensive
cancer center in the country
- One of the top 25
comprehensive cancer
networks
- Shared culture with Calvert
encourages exchange of
knowledge, insights and
experience
Here’s why this is
GOOD NEWS FOR YOU.
New cancer affiliation with Duke
Health provides local patients
with access to:
- The resources of an NCIDesignated
Comprehensive
Cancer Center
- The latest cancer research
and leading-edge treatment
advances
- Clinical trials only available
at the best cancer hospitals
in the country
- Second opinions from all
types of cancer experts for
treatment planning