Second Opinion
There may be times a second opinion about diagnosis or treatment is desired. One place, especially for those in the United States to go for such an opinion, is to one of the cancer centers that are part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). The following Mission Statement is reproduced here, from their web site.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is a not for profit, tax-exempt corporation that is an alliance of the world’s leading cancer centers. Established in 1995 to enhance the leadership role of member institutions in the evolving managed care environment, the NCCN seeks to support and strengthen the mission of member institutions in three basic areas:
- To provide state-of-the-art cancer care to the greatest number of patients in need;
- To advance the state of the art in cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment through excellence in basic and clinical research;
- To enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of cancer care delivery through the ongoing collection, synthesis and analysis of outcomes data.
According to the National Cancer Institute, “Multimodality therapy delivered with curative intent is the standard of care for patients with clinical stage IIIB disease.”
Participation in Clinical Trials is necessary for beneficial treatment options for inflammatory breast cancer to be identified. The Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation encourages every patient, with the help of their oncologist and medical team, to investigate their opportunity to participate in a clinical trial for IBC patients.
Tumor Markers
“Tumor markers are substances that can often be detected in higher-than-normal amounts in the blood, urine, or body tissues of some patients with certain types of cancer. Tumor markers are produced either by the tumor itself or by the body in response to the presence of cancer or certain benign (noncancerous) conditions. This fact sheet describes some tumor markers found in the blood.”
