EON

New York - A recent study headed by Northwestern University’s Karl Y. Bilimoria, M.D., suggests that the majority of hospitals in the US do not meet the minium guidelines concerning follow up care for colon cancer patients.

Bilimoria and his research team found that only 38% of hospitals are following the standard benchmark, which states doctors should check at least twelve lymph nodes regularly.

Proper follow care greatly reduces the risk of returning cancer remaining undetected and is crucial to the patient’s health.

Even when the cancer is diagnosed and eliminated, complications can still occur.

Three out of every ten colon cancer patients will have the disease return within five years; attentive care can detect the cancer early enough to prevent it from spreading and, in some cases, may even eliminate the need for chemotherapy. Blood and lymph node testing guidelines need to be strictly followed in order to provide the best care possible.

Fortunately, not all US hospitals are failing to meet colon cancer criterion. Comprehensive Cancer Centers, many university-affiliated hospitals, and Veterans Administration health care had the best results; between 53% -78% of these met the standard. In these examples, the relationship between pathologists, onologists, and surgeons may have something to do with the higher percentage of compliance; when the medical personnel have direct contact with each other, care tends to be more comprehensive. However, there is still much room for improvement for other classes of hospitals.