Breaking it Down: The Clinic

           We’ve already discussed the importance of our bench research and its work to make an impact on future cancer therapies that can be offered to patients. But who are these patients and how can we help them? For most research labs across the world, case reports on cancer patients are read about in journal articles, and bench research follows after reading these articles. However, this is not the case in the Roychowdhury Lab. Dr. Roychowdhury and his clinic team see and work with the very patients whose cancers we study on the research side of the lab. The clinic team builds relationships, connects the patient and the rest of the lab’s work together, and develops an intimate interest in each patient’s case. What does this look like in the clinic? Our team approaches every patient with four questions in mind:

QUESTION 1: Who is this person?

            Name, date of birth, medical ID number? Sure, those are important. But that’s not enough to answer Question 1. Not for this clinic team. We understand that there is more to a patient than any medical quick sheet can reveal. Is the patient married? Do they have a family? What is his/her favorite sports team? Hobbies? Favorite memory from childhood?

            Now, these questions may seem superfluous. Our team will argue that they are essential. The most important value in interactions between a patient and their doctor is trust. Asking these questions builds trust—to the clinic team these patients are not just another name or face—they are new members of our team. Dr. Roychowdhury and his clinic team are a compassionate group, and they know that for them to effectively diagnose and treat a patient’s cancer, there needs to first exist an effective trust, rapport, and teamwork.

QUESTION 2: What kind of cancer is he/she fighting?

            Small cell, squamous, blood, etc. There are many types of cancers patients can be faced with—and the clinic team has seen them all. Beyond the types of cells forming into a patient’s cancer, there are additional features the team looks for. Through minimally invasive practices such as drawing blood or sampling the tumor (biopsy), the clinic team is able to look into a patient’s genes to find the what is triggering a patient’s cancer. For example, a breast cancer and liver cancer are different in many ways. The type of cells, the location, and how it affects the patient. Yet, sometimes these two (and many other) cancers can have the same genetic problems that form tumors.

QUESTION 3: Where is this cancer located?

            This question serves as the reconnaissance for the clinic team. You have to know where your enemy is to fight it effectively—so locating the tumors in a patient is important. This includes interpreting scan results and understanding that certain cancers like to move around. Maybe the cancer has metastasized, so now the new strategies might be necessary. Maybe the patient is in remission, so it’s only a matter of monitoring progress carefully. No matter what, finding the cancer is essential to effective treatment.

QUESTION 4: How to we approach the fight?

            The most important but difficult question is saved for last. Yet, the beauty of asking the first three questions best prepares the clinic team and patient to tackle Question 4. Trust has been established through welcoming a patient into the team. Effective cancer type and location diagnosis helps locate future directions of care. Promises can’t be made, though—no one knows everything, and the clinic team isn’t an exception. However, their vast experience and backing of the research team empowers them to approach each patient with a unique compassion and curiosity.

            Cancer is often the most stressful thing a patient and his/her family will ever encounter. There isn’t any direct cure for all of cancer, nor the anxiety that undergoing treatment produces. It’s a fight. The clinic team in the Roychowdhury Lab and their four questions for cancer treatment fight beside each patient, every step of the way.