The Gastroenterology Department at City of Hope® Cancer Center Atlanta provides a wide range of treatments, including minimally invasive approaches, for precancerous conditions (such as Barrett's esophagus), as well as cancerous tumors. Our team is also experienced in offering tools and techniques to relieve cancer-related symptoms. Our goal is to help each patient maintain his or her quality of life while pursuing the treatment approach tailored to his or her individual needs.
At City of Hope, you’ll work with a multidisciplinary team of physicians who have expertise in performing cancer-related procedures in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Your care team may include a gastroenterologist, radiologist, surgical, medical and radiation oncologists, dietitian, naturopathic clinician and other cancer experts across a variety of disciplines. The gastroenterology team at our Atlanta hospital is led by experts who diagnose, stage and treat gastrointestinal cancers, including neuroendocrine tumors (NETs).
Learn more about our neuroendocrine tumor expert care
The gastroenterology team works together to understand each patient’s unique needs and provide advanced, fully integrated treatments. The team meets regularly to discuss the patient’s progress and modify his or her treatment accordingly.
We provide a wide range of treatment options for GI cancers. Our team uses standard-of-care and, when appropriate, innovative treatments and technologies to fight GI cancers and will work with you to find an approach tailored to your unique situation.
We’re committed to finding options for each patient, including those with stage 3 or stage 4 cancer. We may apply innovative techniques and ablative treatments to help remove obstructions in the GI tract and relieve pain or breathing problems.
For example, for pancreatic cancer patients, we may perform a therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) to relieve pain, deliver intratumoral chemotherapy or drain pancreatic pseudocysts (fluid build-up around the pancreas). We may also use EUS to place fiducial markers in pancreatic masses prior to radiation therapy for more precise targeting of tumors. Fiducial markers are seeds about the size of a grain of rice that are placed in or around a tumor to show its exact location. This allows the radiologist to directly target the tumor with high doses of radiation, helping to reduce damage to nearby healthy tissue.
The gastroenterology team treats cancer that affects the GI tract. This includes esophageal, gastric, pancreatic, liver and colorectal cancers. The team also treats cancers that have metastasized (spread) to the GI tract, such as lung cancer or breast cancer.
Some common side effects of cancer treatment are pain, nausea, decreased appetite, fatigue, constipation and diarrhea. We recognize that these symptoms may delay or interrupt your treatment and interfere with your ability to fight the disease.
Throughout your treatment, your care team will use multiple measures to help reduce symptoms. For example, we may prescribe anti-nausea medications prior to treatment to manage nausea. We also work with your dietitian to support your dietary needs to help you get the nourishment you need.
To reduce pain, we may prescribe medications or other methods designed to make you more comfortable. For example, we may use EUS to perform celiac plexus block, a procedure that blocks nerves in order to alleviate pain.
In addition to nutrition therapy and pain management, your care team provides other supportive care services throughout your treatment to help keep you strong, reduce side effects and improve your well-being. These supportive therapies may include naturopathic support, oncology rehabilitation and mind-body medicine.
