Resources
Our goal is not to bring patients to our practice,
but rather to help patients find the treatment that offers them the best hope. We'd like you to learn all you can
about your cancer and explore all your treatment options before choosing us or another. We are pleased to recommend
several web-based resources that offer valuable information. (We have no affiliation or arrangements with any of these
institutions; they are offered purely for your benefit.)
First, learn about your cancer and its prognosis. The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes
of Health, an agency of the United States government. They offer excellent educational resources which are free of any
bias or endorsement. Find their website at
www.cancer.gov
The American Cancer Society is also an outstanding educational resource.
Access their site at
www.cancer.org
You'll find other helpful resources at the site of the National
Comprehensive Cancer Network, an independent non-profit research consortium of some of the nation's best-known cancer
centers. You can find them at
www.nccn.org
Finally, we believe in the same advice emphasized to doctors and patients
by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network: "NCCN believes that the best management of any cancer patient is
in a clinical trial. Participation in clinical trials is especially encouraged." There is now a site open
to the public where you can find out about many of the clinical trials offered both in this country and elsewhere. It
is an unbiased and independent site offered by the National Cancer Institute. You can access it at
www.clinicaltrials.gov
and sort with your diagnosis and other criteria to find trials
that might be of interest to you. Not every clinical trial is necessarily listed but many are.
We hope these links lead you to information that helps you. (Please note that the links above discuss options
other than our treatment programs and do not include any information about this treatment.) If you choose to seek our
treatment, we want that decision to be made only after you have gained all the information you can and after you have evaluated
every reasonable option.
If you want
the right answers ...
Despite having extremely competent physicians, many cancer patients don't get the treatment with best potential to
help them significantly. Most of them never learn about or at least never seriously look into clinical trials or other
off-label treatment. And the great majority of cancer patients are never told that the treatment being recommended to
them has very little chance of actually beating their cancer. The reason we see for this again and again is that few
doctors volunteer this information (possibly because they perceive that the patient would be happier not knowing it), and
the patients either don't know the right questions to ask or are too afraid to ask questions that they're afraid might offend
their doctors!
Inadequate information often
leads to bad decisions, and cancer patients can't afford that. We recommend the following questions be asked by patients
considering any cancer treatment. If the treatment under consideration is very new or investigational, some of the answers
might not be known yet. For standard treatments, they are. In either case getting as much straightforward information
as you can will help you sort out complicated options. You can even copy these questions straight off the page and print
them out to take with you.
1. What is the expected
outcome with my diagnosis, and in what period of time, if I choose
to forgo any treatment at all?
2.
What treatment do you recommend?
3.
What is the expected outcome, and in what period of time, if I accept the recommended treatment?
What is the experience of most patients?
How many patients have experienced a complete response?
How many have experienced long-term control of disease (no significant spread
or growth)?
What is the usual increase in survival with
the treatment recommended?
4.
What are the likely side effects and impact on quality of life of the recommended treatment?
5. Are there irreversible
side effects? Tissue/organ damage? Heart or kidney or bone marrow failure?
6. Where would the
treatment need to be administered - inpatient or outpatient? How often and for how long would I need to
be in your office or facility?
7.
What clinical trials should I most strongly consider? Are they phase 2 or 3? What
is being tested and what realistic potential do they hold for me? How much would I need to be away from
home for these?
Patients considering the NeoPlas Innovation treatment program
may also want to include the following question
8. If I am considering an off-label regimen of lovastatin and reduced-dose interferon, and
that physician would allow concurrent usage of your recommended treatment, would you also agree with this?
Is there any valid reason not to consider such a regimen?
We hope these resources are helpful.
We want you to find the best treatment for your cancer, regardless of whether that involves our work. And if we're the
right option for you, we look forward to hearing from you.