Working With Major Cancer Centers: A Valuable Relationship
- Most glioma patients will be diagnosed at a community medical center — and some receive most or all of their cancer care locally as well.
- While major academic institutions can provide access to advanced diagnostics, clinical trials, and niche clinical expertise, not everyone has easy access. That’s why collaboration is so important.
- Physicians in both settings can collaborate on the best approach to care.
- Sometimes, patients who were originally diagnosed or began care at a community hospital will be transferred to a major cancer center.
And while most patients see the value in seeking treatment at a major cancer center, many would prefer to get treatment close to home if possible.
Read MoreLocal (Community) Centers: Your First Stop
Most people are diagnosed with glioma at community medical centers. These local facilities are often closer to home, more convenient for follow-up, and better aligned with everyday needs—like routine blood draws or post-treatment monitoring. Advantages of receiving care at a community center include:- Proximity: Easy to access for appointments, especially if you live far from a major city.
- Personalized Care: Local centers often excel at fostering strong patient-provider relationships, which can help you feel supported and understood.
- Initial Diagnosis and Basic Treatments: Many community hospitals can accurately diagnose and begin standard treatments (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation) for common cancers.
However, community centers may treat fewer glioma patients each year compared to large academic centers.
Academic Cancer Centers: Specialized Expertise
Academic cancer centers typically see a higher volume of complex cases, including rare or aggressive brain tumors.
They often have:
- Multidisciplinary Teams: Neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and supportive care specialists routinely review cases together in “tumor boards” to determine the best personalized treatment plan.
- Advanced Technologies: Tools like intraoperative MRI, awake craniotomy techniques, and sophisticated imaging methods can help remove tumors more precisely while protecting important brain functions.
- Cutting-Edge Research and Clinical Trials: Academic centers may offer clinical trials of new drugs or surgical approaches not yet widely available elsewhere.
Despite these strengths, traveling to a major center can be stressful, time-consuming, and financially challenging for some patients—especially if it involves long distances or time away from work and family. Thankfully, there are ways to combine the convenience of local care with the benefits of advanced, specialized treatment.
Often these same resources are becoming more commonly available in community settings as well.
Bridging the Gap: How Collaboration Benefits You
Leading experts emphasize that partnership between community and academic centers is the key to optimal care.
This collaboration can be done in the followin ways:
- Virtual Tumor Boards and Telehealth: Community doctors can present your case to academic experts via secure online platforms, allowing specialists to give input on diagnosis, surgery, radiation planning, or clinical trial eligibility. Dr. Nabors explains that road-blocks doctors once faced are easier to handle with today’s technology. “Typically, images were very hard to get … now, electronically you can power share an image if it’s done in the most remotest part of Alabama if they’ve got the internet,” he says. Telehealth may be going away in March of 2025 and medicare will stop reimbursing video visits and other insurers may follow suit. This could impact your ability take advantage of Telehealth as an option.
- Shared-Care Models: Even if you travel to a larger center for specialized surgery or a second opinion, your local doctor might still manage ongoing chemotherapy, monitor side effects, or follow up with imaging. This approach keeps you closer to home for most of your treatments while still letting you benefit from expert input at a distance. “There are therapies we can deploy closer to home … we also can monitor typically quite easily now,” Dr. Nabors says.
- Community-Centered Referrals: Doctors at local centers often collaborate informally with academic institutions. You may not have to coordinate these details yourself—often, your local physician will help set up referrals and share records.
Can I Get Molecular Testing at My Local Hospital?
Molecular testing is a broad term that refers to the detection of individual molecules or pieces of cancer cells to better characterize a cancer, its behavior — and which treatment options may work better.
It is considered the standard of care (something all patients need and should get) when diagnosing and treating gliomas.
There are countless types of molecular tests — each with their own indication and specific question they are trying to answer. The type of molecular testing an individual is given varies based on the cancer type and stage, among other factors — but the technology is available at cancer centers of all sorts.
There are different technologies doctors can use to do molecular testing — and these may be available in both the academic setting and at community cancer centers.
It is important regardless of what setting you are being treated in, whether academic or community, to ask your doctor about molecular testing and whether you are a candidate for such tests. Your doctor will be able to discuss the various options for testing and what the results could mean in-depth.
Taking the Next Steps
A glioma diagnosis can feel daunting, but you don’t have to navigate it alone or choose just one type of care setting. The reality is that many local community hospitals and major academic centers work hand in hand. Community centers offer convenience, familiarity, and day-to-day management, while academic institutions provide specialized expertise, advanced therapies, and cutting-edge research. By combining strengths, these partnerships create a patient-centric model that makes excellent care more accessible—no matter where you live.
Dr. Nabors points out that doctors who work at major academic institutions, like himself, often have relationships with oncologists who work in their surrounding state or region.
“You develop that relationship which helps the community oncologists feel very comfortable taking guidance from you. It helps also when we do discover these specific molecular alterations for which we might try to pursue an off-label use of a medication,” he adds.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
- Can I receive cancer care closer to home or will I need to travel?
- Is there any benefit to me seeking care at a major cancer center?
- Will any of my care be done through telehealth and what changes can I expect around insurance coverage for telehealth?
- Are there any clinical trials I should consider enrolling in?
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