Article archive / July 1, 2016
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 7. Source pages: 7.
Tulane’s Dr. Michael Hoerger is working closely with the authors of a ground- breaking research study, to better understand the benefits that multidiscipline care can bring to those who are struggling with serious and potentially terminal cancer.
Adding “palliative care” to treatment for serious and late-stage cancer, was studied by researchers and results published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010. “Early Palliative Care for Patients with Metastatic Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer,” by Jennifer S. Temel, MD, and colleagues.
Tulane’s Dr. Michael Hoerger, has been studying patients’ perceptions about this type of approach, and how to help patients better understand their choices with end- stage cancer. His work is supported by an award from the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center, the LaCaTS.
In many situations with late-stage and serious cancer, Hoerger explained, patients wind up choosing aggressive care that does no good and that dramatically reduces quality of life in the patients’ last months.
Temel and her colleagues found that multidisciplinary care could not only increase quality of life but at times extended life, for terminal patients.
“In my current research I am looking at different ways to explain the medical evidence about palliative care to patients with very serious cancer diagnoses,” said Dr. Hoerger in a recent interview with the Times.
Very aggressive treatments often make patients very sick but without chances of improvement in the course of their illness. But, researchers found that with early palliative care, patients were able to make better choices, and maintain a better quality of life.
Hoerger began in 2014 to study this issue as one of the Roadmap Scholars at LaCaTS, which aims to promote translational research connections and goals across disciplines and communities.
“What I’ve found in my research,” Hoerger said, “is that often patients don’t know about palliative care, which can be for patients who have life-limiting diagnoses or serious side effects,” he said. “It is not the same as hospice,” he explained. “For hospice we understand that the patient has less than six months to live. But for many patients with cancer, we might not know what is going to happen with their illness.”
This care approach can involve multidisciplinary professionals that help the patient and family address quality of life issues, psychosocial support, and decision-making, and has been shown to increase possible outcomes with those patients who eventually require end-of-life care and also those that make some level of recovery.
The model of care can include psychologists, nutritionists, social workers, nurses, and others, who provide a variety of methods for easing symptoms and helping the patient in psych- ological and social areas.
Currently, Dr. Hoerger is sup- ported under another award from LaCaTS, this time the Visiting Scholar Award. He is working for two months with authors of the original study on palliative care, authors Dr. Jennifer Temel and psychologist, Dr. Joe Greer.
Dr. Hoerger is training for two months with the palliative care research team at Harvard and Massachusetts General Health.
The training will increase Hoerger’s knowledge and skills in this area and expand his collaborative network. This type of effort aims to accelerate science by building a research infrastructure, the goal of the Visiting Scholar program at LaCaTS.
During this same time, Dr. Hoerger has also completed another degree, a masters in clinical research and biomedical science, to support his interdisciplinary training, he explained. The LA CaTS Center includes LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, and Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans.
The organization also includes four research partners: LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, Research Institute for Children at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Goals of the Center are to work on prevention of chronic diseases in the underserved populations.
Tulane’s Dr. Michael Hoerger, a Visiting Scholar Awardee. (Photo by Sally Asher. Courtesy of Tulane news services.)
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