(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) As a nurse, Mary Ann Grant, spends her days at Heartland Hospital in St. Joseph, but tending to patients isn't her only duty, she's responsible for coordinating clinical research trials at The Cancer Center, an integral part of medical research and drug development.
"That puts us in on the ground level to help have new drugs developed, also it gives us as the second part to offer more treatments for our patients," said Mary Ann Grant, clinical research coordinator.
"We treat them either by what we call national guidelines, standard guidelines, or if they fit, we treat them using our clinical research program," said Dr. Rony Abou Jawde, Clinical Oncologist at The Cancer Center.
With nearly 26 clinical research trials underway, covering all sorts of cancers, The Cancer Center not only treats patients but is also constantly advancing medical research.
"It takes a lot of work, to give credit to our research nurse and Heartland, they've put a lot of resources to make that a possibility," said Dr. Abou Jawde.
"You have to get all the regulatory documents which means you make sure that the protocol and the contracts are appropriate for our institution, and that you have the right training for the physicians, nurse practitioners, the nurses," said Grant.
With a big focus on clinical research trials, The Cancer Center currently has three studies dedicated to Colorectal cancer.
"Colon cancer particularly, is a very common cancer. It affects both men and women and it has unfortunately a high mortality rate if you detect it at a late stage," said Dr. Abou Jawde.
But not everyone is a perfect fit for research trials.
"Each study has it's own inclusion, exclusion guidelines, and they have to meet all the inclusion guidelines and not have any of the exclusion criteria in their favor," said Grant.
"This is how you advance treatment, and cancer in general, particularly in colon cancer. We are fortunate that we have access to some of the new treatments out there," said Dr. Abou Jawde.
By offering more treatment possibilities, Grant says risks are always involved, but clinical trials are better at describing all possible side effects to the patients.
Experts recommend that anyone over the age of 50 get a colon cancer screening each year and a Colonoscopy every ten years.
"That puts us in on the ground level to help have new drugs developed, also it gives us as the second part to offer more treatments for our patients," said Mary Ann Grant, clinical research coordinator.
"We treat them either by what we call national guidelines, standard guidelines, or if they fit, we treat them using our clinical research program," said Dr. Rony Abou Jawde, Clinical Oncologist at The Cancer Center.
With nearly 26 clinical research trials underway, covering all sorts of cancers, The Cancer Center not only treats patients but is also constantly advancing medical research.
"It takes a lot of work, to give credit to our research nurse and Heartland, they've put a lot of resources to make that a possibility," said Dr. Abou Jawde.
"You have to get all the regulatory documents which means you make sure that the protocol and the contracts are appropriate for our institution, and that you have the right training for the physicians, nurse practitioners, the nurses," said Grant.
With a big focus on clinical research trials, The Cancer Center currently has three studies dedicated to Colorectal cancer.
"Colon cancer particularly, is a very common cancer. It affects both men and women and it has unfortunately a high mortality rate if you detect it at a late stage," said Dr. Abou Jawde.
But not everyone is a perfect fit for research trials.
"Each study has it's own inclusion, exclusion guidelines, and they have to meet all the inclusion guidelines and not have any of the exclusion criteria in their favor," said Grant.
"This is how you advance treatment, and cancer in general, particularly in colon cancer. We are fortunate that we have access to some of the new treatments out there," said Dr. Abou Jawde.
By offering more treatment possibilities, Grant says risks are always involved, but clinical trials are better at describing all possible side effects to the patients.
Experts recommend that anyone over the age of 50 get a colon cancer screening each year and a Colonoscopy every ten years.
