Patient Centered Oncology | The New World of Cancer Care

The war on cancer was announced more than 50 years ago with a hope that cancer would be readily cured. Today, the clinical approach to cancer treatment is drastically different from what it was half a century ago due to better and deeper understanding of the disease. Rapid scientific advancement necessitates continued change of care delivery for cancer. This includes adapting the care delivery paradigm as new and more complex treatments are developed and approved. From the patient’s perspective, the steps of diagnosis, staging, treatment planning, treatment delivery and follow up/monitoring remain; however, the details underlying these steps have changed significantly, especially over the past decade. Early detection enables treatment at an earlier stage of disease. Unanticipated consequences may need to be addressed, and ways must be found to enable treatment not just at large academic centers but also in the community setting. Modern cancer care requires us to adapt not only to new multimodal technology but also requires evolving institutional management processes for these complex diseases.