Willis-Knighton Cancer Center is a Comprehensive Cancer Program accredited by the Commission on Cancer (CoC). Each year all of our Cancer Registry data is submitted to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) to assess the quality of patient care. According to the CoC, this enables cancer programs to compare treatment and outcomes with regional, state and national patterns of care.

The Cancer Committee conducts studies on treatment data annually to ensure that our patients are receiving the highest quality of care. One way we do this is by measuring our compliance and performance rates using the nationally accepted quality improvement measures developed by the CoC. Currently, there are four accountability measures for breast and one for colorectal cancer. Below you will find Willis-Knighton’s performance rates for 2014 as compared to all state and national CoC accredited programs.

Measure: Adjuvant chemotherapy is considered or administered within 4 months(120 days) of diagnosis for patients under the age of 80 with AJCC stage III (lymph nodes positive) colon cancer.

CoC Standard: N/A State: 86% National: 89% WK: 100% (2014)

Measure: Radiation is administered within 1 year (365 days) of diagnosis for women under the age of 70 receiving breast conservation surgery for breast cancer.

CoC Standard: 90% State: 92% National: 92% WK: 92% (2014)

Measure: Combination chemotherapy is considered or administered within 4 months (120 days) of diagnosis for women under 70 with AJCC T1c, or stage II or III hormone receptor negative breast cancer.

CoC Standard: N/A State: 91% National: 92% WK: 100%(2014)

Measure: Radiation therapy is considered or administered following any mastectomy within 1 year(365 days) of diagnosis of breast cancer for women with >=4 positive regional lymph nodes.

CoC Standard: 90% State: 89% National: 89% WK: 100% (2014)

Measure: Tamoxifen or third generation aromatase inhibitor is considered or administered within 1 year (365 days) of diagnosis for women with AJCC T1c or stage III hormone receptor positive breast cancer.

CoC Standard: 90% State: 87% National: 93% WK: 97% (2014)

As you can see, Willis-Knighton Cancer Center exceeds the State and either meets or exceeds the National performance rates of all CoC accredited programs in all of these measures. These are only a few examples of the many ways that the Willis-Knighton Cancer Center is working to provide patients with the best cancer treatment.