The new surgical oncology director at The Lacks Cancer Center will lead a ground-breaking collaborative study on breast cancer aimed at assessing surgical options and outcomes to improve patients’ quality of life and reduce unnecessary and costly surgeries.
Dr. Laurence McCahill, who also is assistant director of The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary’s Health Care, will lead the two-year research project at the Van Andel Research (VAR) Institute. Researchers will study and compare outcomes of breast cancer surgery and develop an electronic database showing the comparative results.
The study is possible through a $1 million grant awarded to VAR from National Cancer Institute, one of 200 grants awarded this year through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. More than 27,000 applicants sought the grants to conduct comparative effectiveness research on cancer
McCahill’s initial research suggests that because there are no guidelines for breast cancer surgery, operations may be performed differently based on the hospital, region or even surgeon. "The hope is that in the long term, we would see patients with similar problems get relatively similar high quality surgical care across the country," he says.
The study of 6,000 patients will open up several jobs at research sites nationwide and at least a handful of employment opportunities locally, McCahill says.
Formerly affiliated with the University of Vermont in Burlington, McCahill chose to come to Grand Rapids because he was impressed with the work at The Lacks Cancer Center and at VAR. He also wanted to be closer to family members living here.
Source: Dr. Laurence McCahill, The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary’s Health Care and Micki Benz, Saint Mary’s Health Care
Sharon Hanks is the innovation and job news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.