Laurence J. Heifetz, MD, FACP

Laurence J. Heifetz, MD, FACP, medical director, Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, discusses a novel approach to managing disparities in lung cancer care.

Approximately 20% of Americans live in rural areas, which means they have less access to state-of-the-art medical care, specifically cancer care, says Heifetz. This means these patients will also get a delay in optimal care.

The Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center put together a system addressing the 4 major malignancies that comprise 80% of all cancers, which are breast cancer, lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, and genitourinary cancer. The center partnered with the University of California, Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center to be a part of their network, which has 4 remote facilities.

Every week, virtual tumor boards are conducted in each of these 4 malignancies for community physicians to gain insight from academic oncologists on patient cases, recent clinical data, and more. These tumor boards became the culture definer for this program, Heifetz concludes.

Laurence J. Heifetz, MD, FACP | Authors

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Bridging the Gap Between Disparities in Lung Cancer