|
For
Immediate Release:
April
20, 2004
| For
more information contact: |
| Teresa
L. Stewart 505.272.7813 |
Lynn
Komer 505.660.7682 |
Northern
New Mexico Cancer Patients Now
Have Access to Cancer Clinical Trials
----Clinical trials are the heart of cancer research.
Cancer trials test new drugs, combinations of new treatments,
new approaches to surgery or radiation or other methods
for treating cancer. Even though participation in a
clinical trial may be the best option for treatment,
fewer than 10 percent of adults with cancer in New Mexico
enter clinical trials. For patients in Northern New
Mexico, access to clinical trials will be less of a
barrier. The Cancer Institute of New Mexico, located
in Santa Fe, is the first and only oncology group in
Northern New Mexico to join the prestigious New Mexico
Cancer Care Alliance.
Scientists
learn more every day about effective treatments for
different types of cancer. As advances are made in treating
the disease, new therapies are developed. "By participating
in cooperative clinical trials through the New Mexico
Cancer Care Alliance, the Cancer Institute of New Mexico
can offer patients the newest approaches to cancer care
while providing them with the best current standard
treatment," said Timothy Lopez, M.D., director
of research for New Mexico Cancer Care Associates and
a medical oncologist at the Cancer Institute of New
Mexico.
The
New Mexico Cancer Care Alliance is a nonprofit organization
that brings together major health care institutions
and oncology practitioners to enhance the quality of
cancer care statewide and broaden access to the breakthrough
drugs and therapies offered through clinical trials.
New
Mexico cancer patients benefit because they can be among
the first to receive new cancer prevention and treatment
agents.
The
Cancer Institute of New Mexico is the state's newest
cancer care facility. It is a joint venture between
the physicians of New Mexico Cancer Care and Radiation
Oncology Associates. The community-based physicians
are able to integrate medical oncology, radiation oncology,
diagnostic imaging, clinical research and patient support
services in a single, patient-care facility.
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