Compilation of Links for
Cancer Treatment in USA

Copyright 2020-2021 by Ronald B. Standler

Table of Contents

Introduction

websites of U.S. Government

Medical Professional Societies websites

Treatment Guidelines for each type of cancer

websites of Cancer Centers for Treatment

Introduction

I am not a physician. My educational background is in physics (Ph.D. 1977). While I crave technical details, understanding cancer treatment requires a background in biology and medicine. I created this list of links to cancer treatment resources after I was diagnosed with metastatic cancer in October 2019.

A patient who has cancer will have many blood samples processed by a laboratory, including:
  1. Complete Blood Count (CBC) with differential, a panel of:
    1. number/µliter of Red Blood Cells (RBC)
    2. number/µliter of each of five types of White Blood Cells (WBC), (WBC are also known as Leukocytes):
      1. Neutrophils
      2. Lymphocytes (B cells and T cells)
      3. Monocytes
      4. Eosinophils
      5. Basophils
    3. Platelets,
    4. Hemoglobin (Hgb) in grams/100 ml,
    5. Hematocrit (Hct), the percentage of blood composed of red blood cells.
    The CBC checks for bone-marrow suppression (e.g., low numbers of neutrophils, low numbers of red blood cells) during chemotherapy. The CBC is also useful to check treatment progress in some types of cancer (e.g., leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma).

  2. Electrolytes: sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, calcium, etc.

  3. Tests for renal function: creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN).

  4. Tests for hepatic function:
    1. alanine aminotransferase (ALT), also known as serum glutamic pyruvic transferase (SGPT);
    2. aspartate aminotransferase (AST), also known as serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT);
    3. alkaline phosphatase;
    4. bilirubin.

  5. Tests for appropriate tumor markers, e.g., carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), prostate specific antigen (PSA), etc.
Because of the importance of blood tests, I include in this webpage links to sources of information on understanding "laboratory tests" and/or "tumor markers".

R. Standler, PhD
begun 18 March 2020

U.S. Government Websites

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) requires manufactures of prescription drugs to include a printed page of information for physicians and pharmacists. These printed pages — called a "package insert" — contain information on side effects, contraindications, adverse interactions with other drugs, dosage, etc. See
National Institutes of Health homepage

National Cancer Institute homepage
      list of cancer treatment centers in the USA
      types of cancer: prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
      tumor markers
      cancer treatment
          chemotherapy drugs
          side effects of cancer treatment
      dictionary
      Prostate Cancer Treatments
      Colon Cancer Treatment
     

National Library of Medicine homepage
      drug package inserts
      PubMed free searches of medical journals   advanced search
      types of cancers diagnosis & treatment
      drug information from American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
      interpret laboratory tests
          tumor markers (laboratory tests)

Medical Professional Societies

A board-certified physician has attained the highest level of certification in some area of medicine. Oncologists are commonly board-certified in both hematology and medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine.   Check a physician's certification by the Board of Internal Medicine.   Alternative check of certification by the American Board of Medical Specialities.
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
patient information from ASCO
      side effects of chemotherapy
      types of cancers

American Society for Radiation Oncology

Oncology Nursing Society
oral chemotherapy drug information

Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association
resources for patients

American Association for Clinical Chemistry homepage
list of laboratory tests

American Urological Association (AUA)

Treatment Guidelines

Links to treatment guidelines for each type of cancer. These guidelines are technical and are intended for physicians. Some of these websites also have a version of each document for patients.

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)

American Urological Association (AUA) oncology guidelines
prostate cancer guidelines

European Society Medical Oncology (ESMO)

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)   or Google Search for Guidelines published in Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

U.S. Government: National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Cancer Centers


Prestigious Cancer Centers in the USA, which are listed alphabetically by last name of Center:
Abramson Cancer Center homepage in Philadelphia (Univ. of Pennsylvania)
OncoLink cancer information
      drug information
      tumor markers (laboratory tests)

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center homepage in Houston, Texas (University of Texas)
library guides
search knowledge center

Cleveland Clinic ChemoCare in Cleveland, Ohio
drug information
managing side effects

Dana-Farber homepage in Boston, Massachusetts (Harvard University)
search for types of cancers
health library
      chemotherapy drug information

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center homepage in Baltimore, Maryland (Johns Hopkins University)
Links to 24 types of cancers
laboratory tests

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center homepage in Rochester, Minnesota
drug information
laboratory tests

Sloan-Kettering homepage in New York City
Sloan-Kettering homepage has a drop-down menu of types of cancers
drug information (type name of drug in search box)   from Wolters Kluwer Clinical Drug Information, Inc.

Stanford Cancer Institute homepage in Palo Alto, California (Stanford University)
tumor markers (laboratory tests)

I found some of the above resources with a Google search for the queries:
Copyright 2020-2021 by Ronald B. Standler

This document is at   http://www.rbs0.com/Lct.htm
created 18 March 2020, modified 27 September 2021

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