Panel's recommendations include new cancer facility

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

Faced with a doubling of cancer cases because of an aging population, Hawai'i should build a new outpatient cancer center to give patients access to the newest treatments and attract more money for research and care, a blue-ribbon panel has recommended.

The Governor's Panel on Cancer Care in Hawai'i also recommended:

• Better coordination of programs to prevent, screen for and quickly detect new cancer cases.
• More accessible radiation treatment for Neighbor Island residents, provided through state subsidy for new facilities and for transportation to and housing on O'ahu if needed.
• More care for dying cancer patients, achieved by educating healthcare practitioners and broadening insurance coverage for hospice care.

Taking these steps could fulfill Gov. Ben Cayetano's 1999 request for a plan to put Hawai'i at the forefront of "humane, compassionate" care and treatment of cancer patients, said panel co-chairmen Dr. Reginald Ho and Chris Pablo.

Between 5,000 and 6,000 Hawai'i residents are diagnosed with cancer annually, and the number of new cases per year is expected to double within three decades, the panel said.

That is because the risk of developing cancer is 10 times higher among people older than 65, and because Hawai'i has the nation's highest life expectancy (almost 79 years and rising).

Last year, 2,000 residents died of cancer here, 600 of them from lung cancer.

Hawai'i's cancer care programs, while more effective than average, are still so isolated and fragmented that too few people hear and heed advice on cancer prevention, the panel said.

And too many suffer cancer undetected, wait weeks between diagnosis and treatment, and spend too much time and money getting to and from clinics.

Because about 40 percent to 50 percent of cancer patients today will not be cured by standard treatments, access to the newest treatments being tested in clinical trials represents their best hope, the panel said.

But only 2.3 percent of Hawai'i's adult cancer patients participated in clinical trials last year — 20 percent fewer than nationwide.

That is partly because trials are less available here and access to Mainland facilities is limited and costly.

A comprehensive outpatient cancer center, partnered with the existing Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i and community hospitals, could bring Hawai'i more new research and treatments, the panel said, urging the state to study the feasibility of such a center.

The Cancer Research Center and The Queen's Medical Center — prodded by the panel's preliminary recommendations in December — have agreed to explore a joint program for research and for development of an outpatient center near Queen's.

Reach Walter Wright at 525-8054 or wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com.