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From Ghana to Orlando, experts across the multidisciplinary care team share how they are expanding access to clinical trials and supportive care services and improving quality of life for their patients as a result in this Oncology Issues. Read on for a preview of this issue’s articles and dive deeper to learn from colleagues across the country and the globe.
A new issue of Oncology Issues was released on April 13, 2026, packed with detailed accounts of new innovations in cancer care. From Ghana to Orlando, experts across the multidisciplinary care team share how they are expanding access to clinical trials and supportive care services and improving quality of life for their patients as a result. Read on for a preview of this issue’s articles and dive deeper to learn from colleagues across the country and the globe.
Sanford Health, headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is the largest rural health system in the US, but also has a significant global presence through its Sanford World Clinic. Established in 2007, this initiative operates clinics in developed and developing nations to provide lasting infrastructure for primary care, specialty care, and health care training.
Sanford World Health Clinic – Ghana is strengthening primary care and improving early detection of breast and cervical cancer through sustainable infrastructure, community partnerships, and innovative tools. Read the full article to explore this initiative and an international study that serves as a model for low-resource cancer screening that meaningfully improves outcomes for women and families.
A recent need to replace radiotherapy equipment at Oklahoma Cancer Specialists and Research Institute opened up a variety of considerations, including improving patient care, maximizing workforce efficiencies, and thriving in an evolving reimbursement landscape. Facing an important decision with impacts on patient care, staffing, and financing, this cancer program took a data-driven approach to selecting and implementing its new technology.
This article catalogues the Institute’s intentional process to bring in equipment designed to shift towards regimens that require fewer treatment sessions and offers a road map for other cancer centers facing similar challenges. Learn from their research and the decision-making process that led to improved clinical and workflow efficiency.
Decentralized clinical trials bring trial services, such as consent, enrollment, and treatment, outside of traditional research sites, allowing patients being treated in their community or in rural areas to access some or all of their appointments without traveling to an academic center. Recognizing both the critical role of clinical trials in oncology and the barriers that limit patients from participating in them, University of Chicago Medicine created a decentralized approach tailored to its patient population.
In this article, the institution’s director of Network Research Operations unpacks a decentralized model for therapeutic clinical trials built upon 15 years of offering trials at community centers. The resulting structure is flexible, allows patients to move seamlessly throughout the broader health system network, and offers actionable lessons for other cancer programs interested in exploring a decentralized clinical trial model.
One of the most impactful aspects of cancer care is the language used by a patient’s care team, and research suggests patients’ perceptions of care are shaped as much by communication style as by clinical outcomes. The whole care team has a role to play in this endeavor: “Oncology care is inherently multidisciplinary, and consistent messaging across providers—physicians, nurses, physical therapists, social workers, and so forth—is essential to avoid mixed signals that can confuse or distress patients,” authors wrote in Oncology Issues.
This analysis explores the lived experience of a patient diagnosed with multiple myeloma and identifies key terminology that negatively impacted the patient. Through specific examples and compassionate analysis, the authors present alternatives as a framework to improve patient-centered word choices.
Though they are often a limited resources at cancer programs, registered dietician nutritionists (RDNs) are integral to personalized nutrition plans and improving health education, which is vital to patients with cancer who often have complex nutritional needs. Poor nutrition can negatively impact treatment outcomes, and the treatments themselves can impact food intake through common adverse effects like vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of appetite.
This study describes a set of RDN-led nutrition classes offered at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Center over the course of 6 years, and explores how they served as a key resource to optimize healthy lifestyles, empower patients with cancer, and help them understand the value of nutrition in the context of diagnosis and treatment.
Recent studies show that mouse models do not adequately reflect human cancer genetics and immune responses, contributing to poor translation of preclinical findings. In contrast, patient-derived organoids provide a cheaper, faster, and more biologically relevant model system. This shift has accelerated interest in patient-derived organoids to enable more personalized treatment strategies and potentially more durable therapeutic responses.
Researchers from the Cawley Center for Translational Cancer Research at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute have established a solid tumor organoid core—the first implementation of such an infrastructure at a community cancer center. Read the full article to learn more about organoids, their impact on the future of cancer care, and their place in the community setting.
Orlando Health Cancer Institute’s Integrative Medicine program takes a holistic approach to health care, acknowledging the importance of psychosocial wellbeing alongside cutting-edge therapies. One of the most popular offerings is Arts in Medicine, an evidence-based program that brings creative arts to patients, survivors, and caregivers.
Formal classes and informal sessions in the chemotherapy infusion suite offer relief from pain and stress, backed by clinical research and patient testimonials. This article highlights the program’s benefits to patients and the wider community, and outlines the structure and staffing of a successful arts program embedded in a cancer center.
In addition to the feature articles, this issue of Oncology Issues offers:
Read the full journal and share with your colleagues across the multidisciplinary care team to put this issue’s insights into action.
At the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, the Louisiana Oncology Society received the ASCO Jeffrey C Ward Affiliate Advocacy Award for advancing critical advocacy priorities that have translated into meaningful legislative victories. The Iowa Oncology Society and Washington State Medical Oncology Society were also recognized for their advocacy efforts in 2025 at the meeting, receiving second place awards.
