Central Maine Healthcare

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Pancreatic Cancer

Your pancreas is an organ behind your stomach. It produces chemicals that help you digest your food. Pancreatic cancer happens when cells in the pancreas grow out of control. This cancer is usually difficult to detect until it has spread, making it hard to treat.

Prevention

Providers don’t understand pancreatic cancer well enough to identify ways to prevent it. But there are a few things you can do to reduce your risk. Quitting tobacco is one of the most important things you can do. Talk to your provider about how to quit for good and call the Maine Tobacco Helpline at 1.800.207.1230 for extra support. Maintaining a healthy weight is also important. Also avoid exposure to harmful chemicals at work, especially if you work in the dry cleaning or metal-working industries.

Detection & Diagnosis

People usually have no symptoms of pancreatic cancer until it has already spread to other organs. That’s why it’s important to be aware of risk factors that may indicate you’re at a high risk for the disease. If you are at high risk, talk to your provider about how to recognize signs and symptoms of the disease. These may include loss of appetite or unintended weight loss, pain in the upper abdomen that radiates to your back, yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (also known as jaundice), depression, new-onset diabetes, blood clots, and fatigue.

Treatment

Our cancer care team will discuss the treatment options that will work best for you, depending on the stage of your cancer, your overall health and personal preferences. Typical pancreatic cancer treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or a combination of these three. In some cases these are combined to attempt to cure the cancer and/or to relieve pain or other symptoms of the disease.

Support

Central Maine Comprehensive Cancer Center offers a variety of support services to help you on your journey to better health. Our nurse navigators are dedicated to guiding you to resources that will support you and your family, including oncology social workers who can direct you to a variety of counseling services, from nutritional to financial.

Screening and Diagnosis

If you’re worried you may have pancreatic cancer, we understand you want answers quickly. At Central Maine Healthcare, we can answer all your questions and will work to provide an accurate diagnosis as quickly as possible.

Screening for Pancreatic Cancer

A screening test is used to find cancer before it produces any symptoms. Pancreatic cancer is one of many cancers for which there are no recommended tests that will detect this cancer early in those who are at average risk for the disease.

If you are at high risk for the disease your provider may recommend an endoscopic ultrasound, which uses a thin, flexible tube (called an endoscope) to insert a small ultrasound probe into your digestive tract. Providers use the ultrasound to look for any evidence of cancer. If they find a tumor, a needle can be inserted in the endoscope to take a sample which can be further examined.

Risk Factors for Pancreatic Cancer

A risk factor is anything that increases your risk for a disease. In pancreatic cancer there are a few risk factors you can control: not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and limiting exposure to workplace chemicals in the dry cleaning and metal-working industries.

There are more factors you can’t change, but you should be aware of them so you can tell your provider. These include:

Family history of pancreatic cancer
African American descent
Over the age of 45
Diagnosed with diabetes
History of chronic pancreatitis		Cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver
Genetic syndrome
Stomach problems such as ulcers or excess stomach acid

Diagnosing Pancreatic Cancer

If your provider suspects you may have pancreatic cancer, they will start by doing a physical exam and getting your medical history. Depending on what they find, they will order one or more of the following tests:

Imaging Tests: X-rays, sound waves, radioactive substances or magnetic fields create images of the inside of your abdomen. An endoscopic ultrasound is commonly used.

Biopsy: This procedure involves removing a small bit of tissue to examine under a microscope. In some cases, your provider may use a needle inserted through the skin to the pancreas to remove the tissue. Other times, they will get a sample during an endoscopic ultrasound.

Blood Test: To diagnose your condition, your provider may draw blood to test it for tumor markers. These markers are specific proteins shed by pancreatic cancer. One of these tests is called CA19-9. It isn’t always reliable and it’s not always clear how to use the results. But it can still be helpful to providers, in addition to other tests.

Treatment

At Central Maine Healthcare, our oncologists treat patients with pancreatic cancer, so they understand the disease well and apply their depth of experience to provide the best care for each person. You can take on your treatment with peace of mind.

Personalized Treatment Plans: If you’ve been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, your cancer care team at Central Maine Healthcare will work together to create the treatment plan that will work best for you. It will take into account the stage and location of your cancer, your overall health and personal preferences.

Surgery: An operation to remove the cancer is one option you and your providers may consider. There are two kinds of surgery for pancreatic cancer. The first is done only in situations where providers are confident they can remove all the cancer. It’s called “potentially curative,” meaning it may cure the cancer. The second – called “palliative” — is done when imaging tests show that the cancer is too widespread to be removed by surgery. Its goal is only to relieve symptoms or prevent complications, not to cure the cancer.

In rare instances, a third approach is done by surgeons who are highly experienced with operating on pancreatic tumors and only in patients whose cancer has not spread too far. It begins with chemotherapy and radiation to weaken the cancer over several months. After these treatments, a surgeon will conduct a very long surgery – as much as 14 hours – to remove the remaining cancer. It’s a difficult surgery for both provider and patient. Talk to your provider about whether this treatment may make sense for you.

Radiation Therapy: Radiation therapy is the use of x-rays and protons to kill cancer cells. It may be used in situations where surgery is too dangerous. It may also be used before or after surgery, and/or in combination with chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy: This treatment uses anti-cancer drugs injected into a vein or taken by mouth (orally). It is sometimes combined with radiation treatment (called chemoradiation) to treat cancer that has spread to organs near the pancreas, but not to more distant areas of the body.

Palliative Treatment: Your cancer care team may advise palliative treatments to help relieve pain and other symptoms. These treatments may use any of the techniques listed above. Palliative is not the same as hospice care.

Taking Care of the Whole You: Wherever your journey takes you, we’re here to support you. We offer a complete range of support services designed to pick up where medical treatments leave off. They include a nurse navigator whose job is to guide you through the entire process of cancer diagnosis and treatment. An oncology social worker can put you in touch with resources including financial counseling, nutritional support and cancer education classes. And our Arbor House hospitality facility offers residential options free of charge for you and your family.

Our Team: Cancer Care

At Central Maine Healthcare, fighting cancer is truly a team effort—with you right at the center. Together, you and our dedicated specialists will create a treatment plan to meet your unique needs and give you the best possible outcome.

A Multidisciplinary Approach

Your cancer care team is made up of many different types of cancer specialists and is led by some of the most experienced medical and radiation oncologists in the region. These providers combine compassionate care with the skill to treat even the most complex cancers. They regularly meet with other leading specialists—including surgeons, radiologists, dietitians, social workers, pharmacists and more—to review your plan from every angle and provide all the support you need to heal.

That high level of care extends to our skilled nurses, all of whom are licensed and certified by the Oncology Nursing Society. That makes them uniquely prepared to help you and your family manage all aspects of a cancer diagnosis, including any emotional or social challenges. Our nurse navigators will coordinate your care through every phase of the journey.

Find Excellent Cancer Care Close to Home

For most cancer patients, Central Maine Comprehensive Cancer Center can provide any cancer test or treatment a patient needs.

Meet Our Cancer Care Providers – Central Maine Healthcare

Lymphoma

A diagnosis of lymphoma can be a life-changing moment. But at Central Maine Healthcare, we combine compassionate care with a full range of treatments.

Treating Lymphoma

The first goal of lymphoma treatment is to get blood counts back to normal.  If this occurs and the bone marrow looks healthy under the microscope, the cancer is said to be in remission.  We’ll work closely with you to create the best possible treatment plan, including a full range of cancer support services to meet your needs.

Chemo/biotherapy

Chemo/biotherapy is used to kill cancer cells with medicines delivered either directly into your vein or by way of a pill taken by mouth. It is usually given if the tumor has returned or spread.

Radiation Therapy

We use the most advanced technology available to target cancer with extreme precision. Treatments include 3D conformal therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). All of these focus high-dose radiation directly on the tumor, while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue.  This treatment is overseen by a radiation oncologist, a doctor who specializes in using radiation to treat cancer.

Central Maine Medical Center offers this service at The Cynthia A. Rydholm Cancer Treatment Center, which has state-of-the-art radiation therapy services.

Bone Marrow Transplant

In some cases, a bone marrow transplant (also called a stem cell transplant) is an option. The procedure is used to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all of your blood cells. A bone marrow transplant replaces bone marrow that either is not working properly or has been destroyed by chemotherapy or radiation.

The oncologists at Central Maine HealthCare may also use innovative options like immunotherapy.  With this treatment, medication triggers your immune system to attack and kill cancer cells.

Support for Every Step

We’re committed to caring for the whole you. That’s why we provide the resources you and your loved ones need to manage the journey from diagnosis to treatment to remission. You’ll find a full range of free or low-cost cancer support services—from education to rehabilitation, nutritional to spiritual counseling, support groups and more empowering programs.

Lung Cancer

Lung cancer kills more people in a year than colon, breast and prostate cancer combined. But the good news is that with new life-saving screening and treatment options, lung cancer death rates have been on the decline since 1990. Central Maine Healthcare is committed to reducing your odds of getting this disease.

About Lung Cancer

Lung cancer starts when lung cells begin to grow out of control. There are four main types of this cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the more common of the two. It grows more slowly and is less likely to spread. The other is small cell lung cancer (SCLC). It progresses quickly and is likely to spread beyond the lungs.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women, mostly attributed to smoking. What makes it especially dangerous is that lung cancer symptoms often don’t appear until the disease has reached advanced stages. Fortunately, new screenings can now catch the condition in its earliest and most treatable stages—saving many more lives.

Prevention

The number one way to prevent lung cancer is to quit smoking for good. Smoking causes four out of five lung cancer deaths but if you quit, your odds of getting the disease begin to decline. Your provider can help you decide which strategy for quitting will be best for you. And for additional support, you can contact the Maine QuitLink for free tools and resources

Detection and Diagnosis

Lung cancer can usually be cured if it’s detected early. Unfortunately most lung cancers are not caught until they are advanced. At Central Maine Healthcare we’re fighting to change that. We offer low-dose computed tomography (also known as LDCT). It’s a fast, painless way to detect lung cancer when it’s still in an early stage.

If you’re over 55 and have a history of heavy smoking, don’t wait another day.  Schedule your screening at a location near you.

Personalized Treatment Plans

More than 95% of suspicious areas found during screenings are benign. But if you are diagnosed with cancer, our Central Maine Comprehensive Cancer Center is ready to help you fight the disease. We can target tumors with image-guided radiation, which focuses on the tumor while sparing healthy tissue. And promising advances in immunotherapy are helping lung cancer patients live longer. Your cancer care team will work with you to create a personalized treatment plan using the best therapies for your specific cancer.

Support

We’re committed to providing you all the education, tools and resources you and your loved ones need to manage a cancer diagnosis. You’ll find a full range of free or low-cost cancer support services—from education to rehabilitation, nutritional to spiritual counseling, support groups and more to meet your needs.

Screenings and Diagnosis

The goal of lung cancer screening is to save lives. Central Maine Healthcare wants to make it as easy as possible for anyone in our community who is at high risk for the disease to be screened. The test takes only 10 minutes and is covered by most insurance. And if you are uninsured, we can offer a reduced rate. It’s a small price to pay to catch this disease before it becomes deadly.

Please contact our Lung Navigator at 207-753-3954 to learn more about lung cancer screening. Or find a lung specialist anytime online.

Why Lung Cancer Screening?

With lung cancer, symptoms usually don’t appear until the disease has advanced, which is why a screening is so important for high-risk patients. Central Maine Healthcare offers low-dose CT scans, a groundbreaking new tool that can catch lung cancer before symptoms show. During this simple test, an X-ray machine scans the body, using low doses of radiation to make detailed pictures of the lung. It’s safe, painless and has proven to reduce the risk of lung cancer death by up to 20%.

Are You at High Risk for Lung Cancer?

Low-dose CT lung scans are recommended for the following groups of people who are at high risk for lung cancer:

  • People ages 50−80
  • Who have at least a 20-pack-per-year smoking history
  • People who still smoke or have quit within the past 15 years

What is Low-Dose CT Scanning?

During this simple test, an X-ray machine scans the entire body, using low doses of radiation to make detailed pictures of the lung. This allows our providers to detect even the smallest tumors, and offers a variety of benefits for patients at high-risk of lung cancer:

  • Effective: Studies show that low-dose CT is four times more likely to pick up a mass than a traditional chest X-ray. It has also proven to be at least as effective as mammography and colonoscopy screenings in saving lives.
  • Safe: CT scanning for lung cancer uses up to 90% less radiation than a conventional chest CT scan.
  • Painless: It’s non-invasive and only takes a few minutes to complete.
  • Convenient: CT scans are offered at our three locations: Central Maine Medical Center, Bridgton Hospital and Rumford Hospital.


If we find anything abnormal, our dedicated team will arrange follow-up testing and, if needed, work closely with you to create a personalized cancer treatment plan to help return you to good health.

Care You Can Trust

The CMMC Lung Cancer Screening Center is one of only seven hospitals in the state of Maine to be officially designated as a Lung Cancer Screening Center. So you can be confident your lung cancer screening will be safe and effective.

Treatment

Until recently, a diagnosis of lung cancer usually meant a poor prognosis, especially since lung cancer symptoms don’t appear until the disease has progressed. But with new early detection tools and innovative treatment options, survival rates continue to rise.

Central Maine Healthcare is staffed by experienced lung cancer specialists. Together, this dedicated team—including board-certified pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, radiation and medical oncologists, specialized nurses and more—will work with you to create the best possible treatment plan.

We specialize in minimizing pain and side effects, plus access to a full range of cancer support services, so you can focus on healing.

Surgery

Surgery is performed to remove the lung tumor, as well as nearby lymph nodes in the chest to check for signs of cancer. It is typically used for early stage lung cancer, when the cancer has not spread, and in some cases, may completely cure the disease. Following surgery, additional treatments such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy may be used to lower the risk of the cancer returning.

Radiation Therapy

Central Maine Healthcare uses the most advanced technology available to target lung tumors with extreme precision. Treatments include intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), which focus high-dose radiation directly on the tumor, while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. We also treat lung cancer from the inside with HDR brachytherapy, which delivers radiation from small implants located close to the tumor.

Medical Therapy

We also offer the latest and most effective chemotherapy options. Chemotherapy has shown to improve both the length and quality of life for people with lung cancer of all stages.

Other medical oncology services include:

  • Targeted Therapy: We now look for changes in lung cancer genes that can be targeted with oral (pill) treatments. These gene mutations can be targeted by drug therapy. Having this information helps us develop a treatment plan that’s specifically designed to fight your specific tumor. Most targeted therapies are oral medications that can be taken at home. They can spare patients hair loss, nausea, low blood counts or increased risk for infection. They are also more convenient and can enhance quality of life compared to standard treatments.
  • Immunotherapy: Recent FDA-approved drug therapies give people the ability to fight lung cancer using the body’s natural defense mechanism: the immune system. Immunotherapy works by making hidden cancer cells visible to the immune system, allowing white blood cells to fight and kill the cancer. Studies have shown immunotherapy drugs to be well-tolerated with minimal side effects, and when combined with more traditional treatments, have doubled lung cancer survival rates.

Kidney Cancer

About Kidney Cancer

Kidney cancer – also known as renal cancer – is among the top 10 most common cancers for men and women. The rate of new kidney cancer diagnosis has risen as it is being detected more frequently through CT scans. When caught early, it is treatable and the number of survivors in remission has grown.

The disease starts when the cells of the kidneys mutate and form a tumor. Sometimes multiple tumors can form, break off and move into different parts of the body.

There are two main types of kidney cancer:

  • Renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer and accounts for about 90 percent of cancerous tumors. It starts in the lining of very small tubes in the kidney.
  • Wilms’ tumor may develop in young children but is rare.

Kidney cancer does not usually cause signs or symptoms in the early stages, and there are currently no routine screening tests. In the later stages, kidney cancer signs and symptoms could include blood in the urine, back pain that won’t go away, loss of appetite, unexplained weight loss, chronic fatigue and intermittent fevers.

Prevention

Researchers aren’t sure exactly what causes kidney cancer, but there are things that can increase your risk. These are known as risk factors and include:

  • Older age
  • Smoking
  • Obesity
  • High blood pressure / hypertension
  • Kidney failure treatment / dialysis
  • Inherited syndromes like von Hippel-Lindau, Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis
  • Family history of kidney cancer
  • Frequent exposure to cadmium or specific herbicides

There best preventative measures include taking steps to improve your current health:

  • Quit smoking
  • Maintain a healthy weight
  • Control high blood pressure

Detection and Diagnosis

Kidney cancer is usually detected at more advanced stages because it can grow quite large before causing discomfort or pain. Tumors are also difficult to detect in a standard physical because the kidneys are deep inside the body. The majority of cases where kidney cancer is caught early on scans, the patient was being tested because they were suffering from symptoms of other kidney issues. If you are not at increased risk, then putting yourself through frequent CT scans or MRIs is not recommended.

Treatment

If you find that you have kidney cancer, rest assured you have some of central Maine’s best experts by your side. Our dedicated team—including board-certified urologic surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists and more specialists—works closely with you to create a personalized treatment plan.

Surgery

Surgery to remove of all or part of the kidney is the main treatment for most kidney cancers and may include removing the surrounding tissues or lymph nodes. Until recently, kidney removal could only be accomplished through a surgical procedure called open or partial nephrectomies. This procedure requires a large, muscle-cutting abdominal incision, removal of a rib and a relatively longer hospital stay and recovery period.

Fortunately, new minimally invasive techniques now make the procedure much easier for patients.  At Central Maine Comprehensive Cancer Center, we offer laparoscopic surgery, which allows your surgeon to perform an operation that results in significantly less pain and a faster recovery.

Chemotherapy & Radiation Therapy

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are generally not effective for treating kidney cancer, but immunotherapy may help some patients by increasing their body’s immune response in the setting of metastatic disease.

Genetic Counseling

If you have a family history of kidney or renal cancer, it is possible to test for hereditary cancer syndromes. The Cancer Care Center’s genetic counselors can work with you and your providers to determine if you are at risk for certain cancers and steps that should be taken to prevent cancer cells and tumors.

Support

Throughout your journey, you’ll find a variety of cancer support services to meet your physical, emotional, spiritual and financial needs. That includes your very own nurse navigator to coordinate all of your care, answer any questions and provide extra comfort and support every step of the way.

Screening and Diagnosis

If you’re worried you might have kidney cancer, we know it can be upsetting and distracting. At Central Maine Health, we understand not knowing can be the most difficult experience. That’s why we’re focused on providing the expert medical attention you need to get a diagnosis as quickly and accurately as possible.

Screening for Kidney Cancer

A screening test is used to find cancer before symptoms appear. While there are no recommended screening tests for kidney cancer in people who are at average risk, there are symptoms you should be aware of. And even though these symptoms are more often caused by conditions that are not cancer, you should still see your provider.

Symptoms that may indicate kidney cancer include:

  • Blood in your urine, which may appear pink, red or cola colored
  • Low back pain on one side (not caused by injury)
  • Loss of appetite
  • Weight loss not caused by dieting
  • Tiredness
  • Fever, which usually comes and goes (intermittent)
  • Anemia (low red blood cell counts)

Screening for People at Higher Risk for Kidney Cancer

Some people inherit from their parents conditions that put them at higher risk for the disease. If you’re at a higher risk, your provider may recommend regular imaging tests like MRI, CT or ultrasound scans to look for kidney tumors. When these are found early, kidney cancer can often be cured.

Talk to your provider if anyone in your family (blood relatives) currently has kidney cancer or had it in the past, especially at a younger age. Also, you may be advised to have genetic testing done if you have a family history of inherited conditions linked to this cancer. These conditions include von Hippel-Lindau disease, hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma, and Birt-Hogg-Dube (BHD) syndrome.

Genetic testing cannot detect kidney cancer. It can only tell you if you’re at a higher risk for the disease. If you are at higher risk, your provider may recommend regular testing. It’s important to note that a genetic test that shows you may be at higher risk does not mean you will get cancer. If genetic testing is recommended by your provider, our genetic counselors will help you understand what the test means for you.

Diagnosis of Kidney Cancer

If your provider suspects you may have kidney cancer, they will want to get more information. First, they will want to ask questions about your symptoms and learn more about your medical history.  They will also want to give you a physical exam to see if anything feels abnormal in your abdomen and to check for other signs of cancer or other health problems.  They may also order one or more of the following tests:

Blood and/or Urine Tests

A sample of your blood or urine is examined to show if there may be any problems with your kidneys. The tests cannot show whether or not you have cancer for certain, but they do provide your provider the information they need to determine next steps in your diagnosis.

Imaging Tests

There are many varieties of imaging tests, but all use either x-rays, sound waves, radioactive substances or magnetic fields to create pictures of the inside of the body. They help your provider look at areas they suspect may be cancer, to see how far cancer has spread, and/or to help find out if treatment is working. Examples of these tests include computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, ultrasound, chest x-rays and bone scans.

Biopsies

If imaging tests are not clear enough, a biopsy can help your provider determine if an area may be cancerous. In this case, he’ll remove a small sample of tissue, often with a needle. This sample is sent to a pathologist, who will look for any signs of cancer.

Guiding You Every Step of the Way

If you are diagnosed with kidney cancer, Central Maine Healthcare is here to support you and your family. Our nurse navigators work with you from your first appointment, helping you through your journey. They can provide or connect you with a wide variety of support services, including financial counseling, shuttle services, free lodging for family members at Arbor House, nutritional support and educational resources.

Treatment

Taking on cancer isn’t easy for anyone. At Central Maine Healthcare, we want to help you in your fight. We provide the highest-quality kidney cancer care, from advanced imaging, to a full range of treatment options and support services.

After your diagnosis, the first step in creating your treatment plan will be to determine what stage your cancer is. Stage 1 is least severe and stage 4 is most. Understanding the size of the tumor and how far the cancer has spread helps your provider understand how to treat the cancer and how successful that treatment may be.

Surgery for Kidney Cancer

Usually surgery will be the first step and is frequently the only intervention needed. Because we have two kidneys, it’s possible to live a full and healthy life with only one. Your provider may remove some or all of a kidney to treat your cancer.

Total Nephrectomy is the most common surgery done for kidney cancer. It removes the entire kidney, and occasionally the adrenal gland and surrounding tissue. A total nephrectomy can be done with a hand-assisted laparoscopic approach, which involves a few small incisions.

Partial Nephrectomy is removal of just the tumor, leaving as much normal kidney tissue as possible. This is done in some cases when the patient has a smaller tumor and it is in a favorable location within the kidney.

If both kidneys must be removed, or if neither of them is working, you may need dialysis. Dialysis is using a machine to clean your blood the way a healthy kidney normally would. Or if your cancer has not spread outside your kidneys, you may be able to have a kidney transplant, if a donated kidney is available.

Options in Addition to Surgery

Surgery isn’t the only way to manage kidney cancer.

Immunotherapy stimulates your body’s natural defenses (also known as your immune system) to boost your ability to fight cancer. It involves substances made by your body or in a lab. These substances are man-made versions of natural proteins that can reduce the size of kidney cancers in a small percentage of patients. This is generally only employed in cases where the tumor has spread to other parts of the body and surgery would not be curative.

Cryotherapy uses an external probe, often guided by a radiologist using ultrasound, to freeze and kill the tumor. This is often a good option for small tumors in patients who do not want or cannot tolerate surgery.

Arterial embolization is a procedure that stops blood supply to a tumor in the kidney. It may be used before surgery to reduce bleeding from a large tumor, to relive pain or to control other symptoms.

Radiofrequency ablation “cooks” a tumor with high-energy radio waves and is similar to cryoablation.

Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells or stop them from growing. A machine sends these x-rays into your body and to the cancer. In kidney cancer, radiation therapy is often used to help with symptoms in patients who cannot have surgery.

Chemotherapy is less effective for treatment of kidney cancer than for some other cancers. It uses anti-cancer drugs which may be injected into the vein or taken by mouth as pills. These drugs kill the cancer cells or stop them from growing. It works best on kidney cancer which contains spindle cells known as sarcomatoid variant. 

Support for Healing the Whole You

Dealing with cancer treatment can be difficult. At Central Maine Healthcare we offer many different support services to help you fight the disease. Our nurse navigators assist you through the entire process of diagnosis, treatment and recovery. And our social workers can connect you with the counseling and information you and your family need to manage the emotional, spiritual, financial and practical needs that come with a cancer diagnosis.

Diagnosis: Cancer Care

How is Cancer Diagnosed?

Sometimes an infection can be the cause of many of the same symptoms cancer produces. That’s why your provider will need to conduct multiple tests to accurately diagnose your condition. Diagnosis starts with your provider giving you a physical exam and finding out about your family history. Based on what they find, they will discuss next steps with you and explain the tests they think are needed. These may include any of the following:

Imaging Tests

Imaging procedures are painless and are often the first step in determining a patient’s condition. Central Maine Healthcare’s partnership with Shields Health Care allows us to offer a variety of imaging services including x-rays, PET scans, CT scans, and MRI. We feature some of the best MRI technology in the region, with the open-bore MRI scanner at Central Maine Medical Center providing extra space for maximum patient comfort and sharp clarity for more accurate diagnoses. Our mobile open bore MRI allows us to provide this same comfort and accuracy at our critical access hospitals, Rumford Hospital and Bridgton Hospital.

Lab Tests

Cancer often produces what providers call markers. These chemicals found in the blood give clues about whether cancer is present and what type it may be. Your provider may take a sample of tissue from the area they are concerned about (called a biopsy) and send it to the Cancer Care Center’s pathology lab. There, specially trained providers called pathologists will study the sample and look for cancer markers.

Endoscopic Exams

With this exam, a scope (a camera attached to a flexible tube) is inserted into an opening in your body. It allows your provider to see your organs and look for evidence of cancer. They may use the scope to also take a sample of the tissue (called a biopsy) for examination under a microscope in the pathology laboratory. 

Genetic Tests

Your provider may want to learn more about the genes in your DNA. Some of these genes may provide further clues to the type of cancer you may have and how best to treat it. At the Cancer Care Center at Central Maine Healthcare, we offer genetic testing and counseling to help you understand the test and what its results may mean for you.

Cancer Support Services

Support Options at the Cancer Care Center at Central Maine Medical Center 

Our oncology nurses will be with you throughout treatment. They work closely with patients, their family and with the oncologists. They have an overview of your treatment, and they are also there to provide direct care.

Our oncology Nurse Navigators help patients and their families learn what other non-medical resources are available. Our navigators can also help you find other community resources that offer comfort and assistance.

Our oncology social workers can assist you in balancing treatment plans with the needs of everyday life.

We also provide access to the Arbor House, a free residential space on the CMMC campus. This spacious house provides comfort and privacy to fit the needs of you and your loved ones while undergoing treatments.

Fertility & Cancer

If you’re a woman of childbearing age who’s been diagnosed with cancer, you probably have questions about keeping your reproductive system healthy while undergoing treatment.

Whose Fertility Is Affected by Cancer and Treatments? There is no blanket answer to which patients might experience side effects from cancer treatment, especially when the side effect could be infertility. The answer will depend on a number of factors:

  • Your “baseline fertility”—that is, are you fertile now?
  • Your age
  • Your type of cancer
  • The type of treatment, dosage, and length of treatment
  • Other health factors

How Can Your Reproductive System Be Affected by Cancer Treatments? The fact is, cancer is a powerful disease, and we need powerful weapons to fight it. Sometimes those weapons cause weaken us for a while, or even have lasting effects. They’re not pleasant to think about, but if you know the possibilities ahead of time, you’ll be better positioned to prevent them:

  • Chemotherapy can cause your ovaries to stop releasing eggs and estrogen. This can be a temporary effect, or it can persist indefinitely.
  • Radiation aimed near your abdomen, pelvis or spine can damage nearby organs. Depending on which organs are involved, your reproductive health could be disturbed.
  • Surgery near your reproductive organs can cause scarring, which can affect your fertility indirectly.
  • Hormone therapy can disrupt your menstrual cycle, thereby complicating fertility.
  • Bone marrow transplants or stem cell transplants, in addition to being physically grueling procedures, can require high doses of chemotherapy or radiation and impact your reproductive system.

Your Options for Cancer Treatments and Fertility: When you undergo cancer therapy, you’ll have a long list of options for preserving your reproductive health, ranging from minimally invasive to high-tech, innovative procedures.  Your options might include:

  • Sperm and egg freezing
  • Embryo freezing
  • Tissue freezing
  • Medications
  • Ovarian transposition, a relatively new process that involves moving your ovaries “out of the way” of radiation’s rays, and reduces your ovaries’ exposure to the radiation.

Infertility is a common side effect of cancer treatments, but you have options for keeping your reproductive system healthy. The fertility specialists at the MGH Clinic for Reproductive Health and Cancer will work with your Central Maine oncology team and keep you informed of all your options, all the time you’re in our care.

Financial Counseling

When you get a cancer diagnosis, the last thing you need is to worry about money. Controlling your stress level is important to managing your illness, and the financial counselors at CMH are here to help you figure out how you will pay your bills, when you can return to work and other issues that can affect your recovery.

How a Financial Counselor Can Help You: Whether you’re a high-earning CEO or work for minimum wage, you can benefit from talking with a financial counselor. The costs of being treated for a serious illness soar higher every year, and a financial counselor can point you to resources or plans you may not be aware of.

  • The counselor will review your insurance policies and explain anything you don’t understand about your coverage and how it works.
  • Financial counselors know the financial aid landscape and can tell you what’s available to you, including nonprofit and public funding, and how to apply for it.
  • You may be eligible for help with medications, including discounts from manufacturers.
  • The counselor can suggest options to help with transportation costs for appointments.
  • Your financial counselor will review your treatment plan and tell you what to expect regarding costs and options for paying those bills.
  • There’s a phrase for the financial stress that often accompanies a cancer diagnosis: financial toxicity—money pressure that aggravates your sickness. Your counselor will guide you through every financial concern and make sure you are never so overwhelmed with money issues that your anxiety gets in the way of your recovery.

Your Counselor Can Help with Billing Issues, Too: Does anyone really understand their hospital and other medical bills? The financial counselor can help you manage your bills.

Money or Not, Trust Your Recovery to Us: CMH is committed to treating every person who needs medical care, regardless of illness or ability to pay for treatment. If your income is below Maine Free Care income levels, you can be treated free of charge at CMMC, Bridgton Hospital or Rumford Hospital. If you have questions about finances, call 888-869-3101.

Genetic Counseling

A lot of conditions run in the family. Maybe your parents, aunts and uncles complain of osteoporosis, while you have friends whose relatives are prone to heart disease or dementia. One disease that’s notorious for having a genetic component is cancer. If you belong to the cancer family, you might consider genetic counseling to learn your cancer risk and how you might prevent getting it.

Which Cancers Are Hereditary? Those that do have a genetic component include:

  • Breast cancer
  • Gynecological cancers—ovarian, uterine and fallopian tube
  • Gastrointestinal cancers—colon, rectal, pancreatic and gastric
  • Genitourinary—kidney
  • Endocrine—thyroid, pituitary and adrenal
  • Skin—melanoma

Who Should Go for Genetic Counseling? The purpose of genetic assessment and counseling is to identify people who may have a high risk of developing certain cancers and help them prevent the disease. We strongly recommend genetic counseling if any of the following apply:

  • You’ve been diagnosed with more than one type of cancer
  • Several of your family members on one side of the family have had cancer
  • You’re of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry with breast, ovarian, colon or pancreatic cancer
  • You’ve had more than one childhood cancer, such as leukemia or sarcoma
  • One of your family members has a known gene mutation like BRCA or cancer predisposition syndrome
  • You were diagnosed with cancer at an earlier than usual age for that type of cancer
  • You were diagnosed with breast, colorectal or endometrial cancer at age 50 or younger
  • You’ve had a rare cancer diagnosis, such as male breast cancer, at any age.

When you arrive for your appointment, our specialists will review your medical history (and your family’s), assess and discuss your cancer risk, benefits and limitations of genetic testing and arrange testing if appropriate. They may refer you to support groups or research studies.

How You’ll Benefit from Genetic Testing: Genetic counseling and testing might actually improve your health because:

  • Testing might identify a cause of cancer
  • It could identify children or siblings who are at higher-than-normal risk of developing cancer, and might also benefit from screening
  • Testing sometimes finds no increased risk of cancer
  • If you are at risk, your counselor will develop an individual cancer screening schedule
  • Genetic testing can help you decide whether to undergo surgery to lower your risk
  • Test results could indicate a change in your current cancer treatment plan.

We offer on-site genetic counseling for breast cancer patients

Nurse Navigators

An oncology nurse navigator is a professional registered nurse with oncology specific clinical knowledge, who offers individualized assistance to patients, families, and caregivers to help overcome healthcare system barriers.

How Your Nurse Navigator Can Help You: Your Nurse Navigator is beside you on your journey back to health, making sure you know you’re not alone. Our Navigators are specially trained oncology-certified nurses who will:

  • Inform and guide you through your specific cancer and treatment choices
  • Help you coordinate and streamline your care
  • Research any available clinical trials or second opinions you might request
  • Identify any physical, emotional, spiritual, psychosocial and financial concerns you might have, and work with you to resolve those issues
  • Connect you with social workers, pastoral care, financial counseling and other supporters who will be there to help you through your treatment and recovery.

Nutritional Support

Eating and Cancer Treatment: Treatment impairs more than just your appetite and tasting abilities. Gastrointestinal problems are a common outcome of chemotherapy, and it’s no surprise that nausea and pain make anyone turn away from food. Central Maine’s dietitians will help you to restore your digestive health and prevent malnutrition. Once you’re able to eat again, they’ll work with you to plan meals that not only will meet your nutritional needs, they’ll also be made of foods you enjoy. Together you’ll set daily calorie and nutrition goals, and they will work with your oncology team to identify solutions at every stage of your treatment. Some therapies affect your sense of taste, while others might curb your appetite. Yet, good nutrition is never more important to your health than when you’re fighting cancer. When you’re nourish, you’ll heal faster, and Central Maine’s nutritionists can help make that happen even when you feel lousy.

Palliative Care

Palliative care is a specialized care that uses a team approach to improve the quality of life of a patient who is seriously ill. Palliative care supports the patient and their family before and after treatment. It addresses the physical, emotional and spiritual needs that arise when a person is very ill.

Palliative care teams serve:

  • Patients with chronic illnesses or conditions that affect daily living
  • Patients with illnesses that may be successfully treated, but result in a poor quality of life
  • Terminally ill patients
  • Addressing the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs when a patient is very ill.
  • Supporting the patient and family before and after treatment.

What the palliative care team provides:

  • Partnership with your providers
  • Relief from pain and other distressing symptoms
  • A coordinated approach to addressing physical, emotional and spiritual suffering
  • Open discussions about treatment options and management of symptoms
  • Support to improve the quality of your life
  • A celebration of life, while also regarding dying as a normal process
  • Advocacy for you

You may wish to seek palliative care if you or your loved one:

  • Suffers from pain or other symptoms due to illness
  • Experiences physical, emotional or spiritual suffering that is not under control
  • Need help understanding your condition and coordinating your care

Palliative team members may include:

  • Palliative care nurse practitioner
  • Palliative care provider
  • Chaplain
  • Social worker
  • Others who might be helpful in improving your care and comfort, such as nurses, care managers, pharmacists, nutritionists, physical or occupational therapists and support staff

Internal Medicine

Meet Our Internal Medicine Providers

Compassionate, quality care begins with Central Maine Healthcare’s internal medicine providers. As internists, we help prevent, diagnose and treat a full range of medical concerns for adults 18 and older, from the common to the most complex.

Our internal medicine teams have won three blue ribbons from the Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine for providing higher standards of care. That starts by treating the whole you —physical, emotional and spiritual —while working closely with specialists as needed to ensure you receive the best and most complete care available.

Expert Care for Every Adult

Wherever you are in your life, CMH internal medicine providers are here to promote your good health. Just some of our specialties include:

Women’s Health

We understand what it takes to keep women well. Our specialized services include well-woman visits, pelvic and breast exams, counseling for hormonal and menopausal issues, Pap smears, routine gynecological care and healthy support for your busy life.

Men’s Health

We provide the full spectrum of men’s health care, including the prevention and treatment of diabetes, high-blood pressure and cholesterol disorders, as well as fitness and dietary counseling, annual physicals, prostate care, testosterone replacement and more.

Minor surgical procedures

Some surgical procedures are so minor they can be done right in the office. Whether it’s the incision of an abscess, joint injections or stitches for a small laceration, our internists specialize in performing these procedures quickly and expertly — without anesthesia or a hospital stay.

Common illnesses

From the flu to strep throat, acute illnesses are one of the most common reasons people see our internists. We can provide you with treatment instructions and/or antibiotics, so you can regain your health as soon as possible.

Routine and diagnostic colonoscopies

Considered the best screening method for colon cancer, colonoscopies allow internists to see inside the colon, identify risky polyps and remove them. A biopsy of the removed polyp can confirm whether the polyp is cancerous and prevent the disease from spreading.

Locations

Bridgton Hospital
25 Hospital Drive
Bridgton, ME
207-647-3456

Central Maine Internal Medicine – Lewiston
12 High Street
Lewiston, ME 04240
207-795-5700

Rumford Hospital
420 Franklin Street
Rumford, Maine
207-369-1099

Family Medicine

A Promise – from Our Family to Yours

Families make up a huge part of our community and the Central Maine Healthcare patient base. Every day, countless mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, grandfathers and grandmothers walk through our doors looking for medical care they can depend on. And every day, our compassionate providers, nurses and support staff make it their mission to provide the very best care possible.

CMH promises to always look after your family, whether you need an immunization once a year or condition management that requires treatment every week. We’re here to listen, lean on and provide everything you need to keep you and your loved ones well.

Our Family Medicine Services

Preventive Health

It’s important to be proactive about your health at any age. Our family providers offer routine check-ups, wellness exams and physicals, plus important screenings to prevent or catch conditions before they become serious.

Personalized Treatment for Chronic Conditions

Whether you or a loved one is dealing with asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure or another persistent issue, we’ll work with you to create a personalized treatment plan and, if needed, coordinate care with specialists. We also place special focus on self-care strategies to help you manage your condition with confidence.

Seasonal Support

The switch of seasons brings new opportunities for family time, along with unwanted issues that can spoil the fun. We provide immunizations to help protect you and your loved ones from the flu, plus allergy relief and more support to keep you healthy year-round.

Telephone RN Triage Services

To get immediate help from a nurse during office hours, some of our locations have special numbers you can call. Check the individual family practices below to see if your nearest practice participates in this helpful service.

Other family focused specialties include:

  • Behavioral health services
  • Care for all types of infections
  • In-office or nearby diagnostic services, including lab work, vision and hearing screenings, blood pressure monitoring and other comprehensive tests.

Meet Our Primary Care Providers

Prevention and Wellness

Participating in preventative health screenings is the best way to catch health problems before they become serious issues. At Central Maine Healthcare, we offer the latest technology and methods for screening to ensure that you can live as healthy as is possible. We value your quality of life and want to help you take the steps to protect it!

Well-Woman Visits

Every year you should visit with your provider for a well-woman exam. This check-up tests the tissues of a woman’s reproductive organs to ensure that they are healthy and disease-free. Our well-woman check-ups include pap smears, pelvic exams, breast exams, lab tests, birth control counseling, and menopause counseling. By attending your yearly exam, you’ll help to ensure that your body is healthy and disease-free.

Mammography

Women need to begin visiting their providers every year for a mammogram once they turn 40 years old. We offer the latest advances with an emphasis on comfort, while ensuring that we help you stay breast cancer-free. Our screening system is done with digital mammography, providing our patients with the highest quality of care in the prevention and early detection of breast cancer. Digital mammography allows the radiologist to view and manipulate the images on high-resolution computer monitors to enhance visualization of the breast tissue.

Heart Health

The number one cause of death for women in the US is heart disease, which places this screening at the top of your health priority list. We offer various non-invasive screening exams that allow us to see how your heart is doing. These include the cardiac stress test, echocardiogram, Holter monitor applications and interpretation, tilt table testing, and transesophageal echocardiogram. Together, you and your provider will decide on the best screening tools for you to use to ensure that your heart stays healthy!

Fitness and Nutrition

An important part of health is focusing on your wellness. We have several board-certified dieticians on our team who are available to help you create a nutritional plan that will help you through health issues and improve your quality of life (requires a provider’s referral). Additionally, we’ve teamed up with the YMCA to offer fitness training through The Y. You can improve your health and wellness through our classes and events geared specifically to improving your quality of life.