St. Mary's Medical Center Cancer Center

Treatment and therapy services are services designed to is a term that describes a type of medical treatment after a diagnosis is made. Examples of types of treatment and therapy services include psychotherapy to treat mental health conditions, physical therapy to help with recovery from physical illness or injury, and occupational therapy to help a person get back to daily functioning at home and at work.

Cancer is diagnosed by an expert who has looked at cell or tissue samples under a microscope. These test results are very important when choosing the best treatment options.

A patient nurse navigator is a healthcare provider who help patients and caregivers navigate the healthcare system and make informed decisions about their healthcare. They do this in collaboration with a multidisciplinary healthcare team, ensuring the timely screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of health conditions.

Breast cancer is when breast cells become abnormal. These abnormal cells grow, divide, and create new cells that do not function normally.

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. Various strains of the human papillomavirus play a role in causing most cervical cancer.

Colon cancer often starts in a polyp, an overgrowth of cells from the epithelium (the top layer of cells) of the colon wall. Although all polyps grow from the inner layer (mucosa) of the colon, not all polyps are the same. Adenomas are the most common type of polyp and while most don’t become cancer, the majority of polyps with cancer start as adenomas. The possibility of a polyp becoming cancerous increases with age. Almost all polyps can be easily removed during a routine colonoscopy, which is why a colonoscopy is so important for people 50 and over - it can definitively prevent cancer.

Lung cancer may originate in the lungs (primary cancer), or it may start elsewhere in the body and spread to the lungs (secondary cancer). There are two main types of lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer is a fast-growing cancer. It may be limited in nature, meaning it affects only one lung or its surrounding tissue, or it may be extensive, meaning that it has metastasized (spread) to other parts of the body. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is more common, making up about 85% of all lung cancers. When discovered in its earliest stages, NSCLC is one of the most treatable cancers.

Melanoma is a form of skin cancer that begins in the cells that control the pigment in the skin and can occur anywhere on the body.

Ovarian cancer is a type of cancer that develops when cells in the ovaries mutate and multiply rapidly, crowding out and destroying health cells. This cancer can then spread to other areas of the body.

Pancreatic cancer typically doesn’t secrete hormones and doesn’t cause obvious signs or symptoms. This makes it hard to diagnose early. For the majority of patients with the most common kind of pancreatic cancer - called exocrine pancreatic cancer - current treatments do not cure the cancer. As many as 49,000 Americans are diagnosed every year with pancreatic cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Prostate cancer is a type of cancer in which the DNA within some cells in the prostate mutate. These cells then grow rapidly, crowding out and destroying healthy cells. The cancer can then spread to other parts of the body.

Skin cancer is a form of cancer that occurs when basal cells of the skin mutate. These mutated cells grow and multiple rapidly, crowding out and destroying healthy cells and forming a tumor. This cancer can affect the top layers of skin or can go into the deeper layers of the skin and it can spread to other parts of the body.