YOUR HEALTH: Clinic aims to redefine healthcare for organ transplant patients diagnosed with cancer

SEATTLE, Wash. (Ivanhoe Newswire) - Studies have shown that organ transplant candidates and recipients have up to four times increased risk of developing cancer. Those patients typically face multiple doctors and diagnoses, which often conflict with one another. However, one clinic has developed a new, unified approach to treating patients.

Dr. Christopher Blosser, a transplant nephrologist at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, is on a mission to redefine healthcare for transplant patients diagnosed with cancer.

“People have a much higher risk of cancer in the setting of organ failure or organ transplant, and oftentimes, their care is fragmented or siloed,” Dr. Blosser said.

Siloed is referring to the different doctors a patient will see for each diagnosis. Typically, the physicians don’t consult with one another, which can lead to conflicting treatments.

“That doesn’t provide the best chance for them to do well,” he added.

And that is why Dr. Blosser created the Cancer and Organ Transplant Clinic – a collaboration between the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the University of Washington in Seattle.

“The Cancer and Organ Transplant Clinic is the first-of-its-kind multidisciplinary clinic that provides personalized care for people who have cancers before or after an organ transplant,” Dr. Blosser explained.

Both a cancer specialist and transplant doctor meet with the patient to determine together the best course of treatment. The results have been transformational for patients. In conjunction with the clinic, Dr. Blosser also created the Center for Innovations in Cancer and Transplant.

Dr. Blosser says the center has “the only patient-level national registry to address why people develop cancers to a greater extent in the midst of organ failure.”

The Cancer and Organ Transplant Clinic aims to reach as many patients as possible outside of its Seattle area through telemedicine. For his part, Dr. Blosser is licensed in Washington and is in the process of becoming licensed in other states such as Alaska, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. He says the more people they can reach, the better.

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