History
Established in 2010 within Humanitas Research Hospital, Humanitas Cancer Center is a highly specialised oncological centre, primarily focused on surgery, medical oncology and hematology (including transplants).
The Centre offers integrated multidisciplinary pathways that deal with cancer patients from diagnosis to end of treatment and end-of-life care if needed. Special attention is dedicated to quality of life through pain management and toxicity control.
Prevention and early detection are other important areas of activity, with a smoking cessation centre, skin cancer clinic, women's health, to name a few. Patients get access to the most innovative drugs through clinical trials. Research is also a fundamental part of the centre, which covers the entire research spectrum: preclinical, translational and clinical research.
Profile
The Medical Oncology department is part of the Cancer Center. About 30 medical oncology specialists work in the department, and the team interacts closely with colleagues in other areas in order to identify the best diagnostic and therapeutic path for the patient.
The medical history, the problems and the needs of patients in advanced stages are discussed regularly with daily handover and weekly multidisciplinary tumour boards. The Medical Oncology department counts a total of 20 beds, 4 of which are dedicated to specific patients during treatment, and 16 to patients admitted from the emergency room and/or patients requiring supportive care for uncontrolled symptoms.
The Day Hospital serves up to 80 patients/day, and about 100 visits/day are performed in the outpatient clinic.
Specialties
Humanitas Cancer Center is a comprehensive oncological centre, with specialists in all areas related to oncology: such as diagnosis, surgery, medical therapy and radiotherapy.
The activity is organised in multidisciplinary groups for each disease: breast cancer, gastrointestinal tumours, thoracic tumours, sarcomas and many more (visit the website for more details).
In addition, the CSCA team (Simultaneous Cares and Continuity of Care in Oncology), works across all the disease groups to ensure control of symptoms, toxicity and pain relief for every patient during treatments and ensuring a proper setting for end of life when needed.
Palliative and Supportive Care
Dr. Velutti leads the CSCA team: a group of four physicians and a trainee, four dedicated nurses, a social worker, a psychologist, a physiotherapist, an healthcare assistant, a dietician and two volunteers. The team is responsible for inpatient supportive care, outpatient clinic for analgesic therapy and manages the service of analgesic therapy for cancer patients in other departments of Humanitas Research Hospital.
Last update: October 2020
