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Plan calls for standardization in treatment of cancer patients

By Daily Bruin Staff

Oct. 21, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 22, 1996

Plan calls for standardization in treatment of cancer
patients

CANCER:

Issue of cost raised as many cannot afford high-quality careBy
Rachel Kelley

Daily Bruin Contributor

Improving quality of life for cancer patients has been a common
goal among cancer researchers for the past few decades. However,
past methods for treatment have been taken on a case-by-case basis,
which, according to UCLA Medical Center researchers, has left some
patients luckier than others.

Physicians at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA,
in cooperation with colleagues at other University of California
campuses, have devised a plan which changes the direction of cancer
treatment.

"The problem with the current method of cancer treatment is the
variability from physician to physician, institution to
institution," said Dr. Robert Figlin, director of the Clinical
Research Unit at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at
UCLA.

Figlin’s team of researchers is not the only group that supports
modifying cancer treatment methods. According to Brad Keoun,
spokesperson for the National Cancer Institute, the rise in managed
care organizations, such as the American Cancer Society is a direct
result of the need for standardizing nationwide treatment
practices.

"Our patient groups want us to exist so that the government
continues to fund cancer research ," Keoun said.

Figlin’s proposal for cancer treatment guidelines aims not only
to improve the level of care for cancer patients, but the
consistency of the care. The purpose of the guidelines, recently
published as a 92 page supplement in The Cancer Journal, is to
"standardize, as best as possible, those treatments which are noted
to be effective, and take out the ambiguity," Figlin said.

At this point, practitioners nationwide are not required to
adhere to the rules set forth by the UCLA Medical Center team.
However, the guidelines are now available to patients and care
providers who inquire about treatment possibilities and want to
implement them, he added.

According to Dr. Judy Gasson, director of the cancer treatment
center at UCLA, publicizing the guidelines is the first step toward
standardizing treatment nationwide. One way that UCLA is
accomplishing this task is by outlining the treatment procedures
for nine different cancers and making this information available on
the world wide web.

"By providing a uniform and standard method, it will help to
ensure that all patients will receive the same treatment that they
would receive if they came to an institution such as UCLA for
care," Gasson said.

However, as Keoun noted, not every cancer patient can afford to
pay for the quality level of treatment given at institutions such
as UCLA.

"I think that anybody would agree that this plan for
standardizing nationwide treatment is not a viable option
considering cost," Keoun said. "Dollars and cents are kind of the
bottom line for everything. If nobody can pay for it, it’s not
going to get done."

In spite of others’ comments, Figlin emphasized that the
guidelines were proposed independent from cost factors. The intent
was to improve the level and consistency of care; it was not an
attempt to reduce costs, Figlin stated.

Dr. Robert A. Figlin

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