Brian Dong Breast Oncology Cancer Care

The fight against cancer is one of the most daunting challenges confronting our health care system today, and nowhere in the United States is that battle raging more fiercely than right here in Kentucky. The state leads the nation in the number of people stricken by the disease, and in the number of cancer-related deaths.

Cancer must become a thing of the past. At UofL Health - Brown Cancer Center, we are determined to make that happen.

Nationally-recognized, comprehensive cancer program

As an academic cancer center affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, Brown Cancer Center’s goal is to make cancer a disease of the past through cutting-edge care, innovative clinical trials and cancer prevention efforts.

Our passion and hard work have resulted in national recognition by quality programs in the U.S. for the excellent clinical care, research, education and outreach programs we are able to provide to our community.

When you and your family come to Brown Cancer Center, you can be confident that you will be receiving the most advanced and very best comprehensive cancer care available anywhere in the U.S.

Commission on Cancer

For the past 40 years, Brown Cancer Center has been working hard to change Kentucky’s alarming cancer statistics through state-of-the-art clinical care, research, education and outreach programs. This hard work has resulted in national recognition by the preeminent cancer care quality program in the U.S., the Commission on Cancer (CoC).

The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a program of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS), recognizes cancer care programs for their commitment to providing comprehensive, high-quality and multidisciplinary patient-centered care. The CoC is dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education and the monitoring of comprehensive quality care.

National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers

When you are screened or treated for breast cancer at Brown Cancer Center, you benefit from the expertise of Kentucky’s first and longest-accredited program by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) - experience and expertise you will not find elsewhere in the city or region.

Brown Cancer Center first received accreditation in 2009 and in 2018 was granted a three-year/full reaccreditation designation by the NAPBC, a program administered by the American College of Surgeons.

Accreditation by the NAPBC is granted only to those centers that have voluntarily committed to provide the highest level of quality breast care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance. To earn accreditation, the center must demonstrate compliance with standards established by the NAPBC for treating women who are diagnosed with the full spectrum of breast disease. The standards include proficiency in the areas of center leadership, clinical management, research, community outreach, professional education and quality improvement.

Several areas of Brown Cancer Center’s breast program were also nominated for “Best Practice” highlights on a national level which speaks to the high level of care we are able to provide.

American College of Radiology

In addition to NAPBC accreditation, our Breast Care Center is also recognized as a “Breast Imaging Center of Excellence” by the American College of Radiology. This means that our breast imaging services meet the highest standards of the radiology profession.

Our radiation oncology department is also recognized by the American College of Radiology (ACR), the highest national accreditation. The department received full accreditation in 2011, which was renewed in 2014 and 2017.

We were the first in the Kentuckiana region to receive a three-year accreditation for the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO).

This means you receive the highest-quality care available for radiation therapy services.

Recognized excellence in cellular therapy/bone marrow transplant

Our Blood Cancers, Cellular Therapeutics and Transplant Program is nationally accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), the gold standard of excellence for blood and bone marrow transplant programs in the United States.

Largest cancer trials program in the region 

We are a nationally recognized center for the development of experimental cancer therapeutics and diagnostics and have the largest cancer trials program in the region. We are a global leader in the clinical trial testing of new immunotherapies that activate your body’s immune system to fight cancer and have become early adopters of these immunotherapies that are reducing the cancer death rate in the U.S.

Offering the latest treatment with the best care

Since opening in 1981, the Brown Cancer Center has become home to some of the best scientists and physicians anywhere – delivering many exciting breakthroughs and the highest level clinical care. We provide and develop the most effective approaches to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Our clinical programs offer patients the latest types of cancer treatments, state-of-the-art multidisciplinary care, and, as an academic medical center at the forefront of medical research, access to innovative cancer trials.

With our rapid growth, especially over the past decade, we have become a nationally preeminent academic cancer center. Through it all, we have kept our original goals at the heart of everything we do to:

  • Deliver the latest in medical advances to our patients with compassion and respect
  • Raise the standard of cancer care in our region
  • Generate new knowledge that helps us not just cure cancer in patients today, but prevent it in the next generation
  • Address the prevalence and impact of cancer on Kentuckians through outreach and prevention programs

Exceeding national standards

Patients of Brown Cancer Center, regardless of the type of cancer diagnosis, travel from near and far -- regional and local distances -- to receive care and treatment from our facility. Our Cancer Registry tracks treatment patterns for all of our patients to ensure we meet and exceed the required standards. The following data is based on patient volume data from 2012-2016, the most recent data obtainable through the NCDB.

We excel in breast cancer care on a regional and national level

When it comes to the following measurements, we exceed the expected performance rate set forth by the Commission on Cancer (CoC), and in most cases have a higher percentage rating compared to Kentucky, as well as those compared in our region, other academic programs and all CoC-accredited programs. 

  • Receiving breast radiation after breast conserving surgery
  • Combination chemotherapy for hormone receptor negative breast cancer
  • Adjuvant hormonal therapy for hormone receptor positive breast cancer
  • Post-mastectomy radiation for women with four or more positive regional lymph nodes

In summary, Brown Cancer Center provides breast cancer patients with the standard of care and exceeds the required standards set by the CoC. To review the data, see pages 4-7 in the Outcomes Report.

ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®

UofL Health – Brown Cancer Center achieved Magnet recognition in November 2022.

With this credential, Brown Cancer Center joins the global community of Magnet-recognized organizations. Just a small and select group of U.S. health care organizations have achieved Magnet recognition. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program® distinguishes organizations that meet rigorous standards for nursing excellence.

This honor exemplifies the nursing professionalism, teamwork and superiority in patient care that we strive for as an academic health care system.

Research demonstrates that Magnet recognition provides specific benefits to health care organizations and their communities, such as:

  • Higher patient satisfaction with nurse communication, availability of help and receipt of discharge information.
  • Lower risk of 30-day mortality and lower failure to rescue rates.
  • Higher job satisfaction among nurses.
  • Lower nurse reports of intentions to leave their positions.

Patients choose us for their care

Patients who establish their treatment (are diagnosed) at Brown Cancer Center tend to stick with us for their cancer care.

A large percentage of our patients seek treatment at Brown Cancer Center after being diagnosed elsewhere. We saw a 5% increase in this patient population from 2012 to 2016.

In 2016:

  • 64.9% of patients were diagnosed elsewhere, but chose to come for treatment at Brown Cancer Center
  • 32.2% of patients were diagnosed at Brown Cancer Center and stayed for treatment
  • Only a small number of patients (2.9%) were diagnosed at Brown Cancer Center and received their primary treatment at another facility

This information is also available on page 9 of the Outcomes Report.

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