Cancer Care Culture

“There is no job more meaningful than taking care of a cancer patient,” says Dr. Alan Yahanda, a surgical oncologist recently named president of the Packnett Family Cancer Institute (PFCI) in Fort Wayne on the Parkview Regional Medical Center campus. “You’re taking a person who is at one of the most vulnerable times of their life and guiding them through that to hopefully, a successful outcome.”

With more than 30 years of experience in cancer care, Dr. Yahanda worked in the Fort Wayne community from 2000 to 2013 and then returned to the area in May.

“I came back because the quality of cancer care we have at PFCI is outstanding,” he says. “We have some really great medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and surgeons. The model that was built here is one that is typically only seen in academic medical centers. It’s highly specialized so that each of our medical teams can concentrate on one or two different types of cancer, so they become experts in their area of focus.”

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Yahanda reminds women to follow the protocol of physicians and cancer organizations when it comes to screenings and testing.

“For all average risk women, screening for self-examination should start as early as their 20s, and annual mammograms should start at age 40,” he says. “Of course, there are many risk categories for which screening mammography should start earlier, such as having a family history of breast cancer. In most cases, you should start mammography 10 years earlier than the age of a family member’s diagnosis.”

He also alludes to the tremendous progress being made in the field of genetic testing for breast cancer as well as other cancers.

“Over time, we’re finding more and more genes that are associated with different cancers. With breast cancer, we’ve now identified up to seven breast cancer-related genes. At Parkview, we have a very robust cancer risk reduction clinic in which patients who have family histories of breast cancer or any cancer can go for an evaluation to determine if genetic testing is necessary.”

Cancer is complex. That’s why Dr. Yahanda is so proud of the medical model followed at PFCI and excited about the advancements to come.

“Here at PFCI, everything is under one roof and each patient has their own medical team to cover every aspect of their care with a medical oncologist, radiational oncologist, surgical oncologist, radiologist, pathologist, nurse navigator, social worker and nutritionist. Because of that, there’s great communication amongst the specialties, which results in better, more efficient care. We are working toward building PFCI into a regional and statewide destination for cancer care. We look forward to the addition of nationally recognized breast cancer surgeon, Dr. Patricia Clark, who will join our team this fall to help us grow and offer even more to our patients. Cancer is scary, but we are here to navigate our patients to the best outcome possible.” 

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