Saint Alphonsus announces collaborative relationship with internationally-renowned cancer institute

Saint Alphonsus Medical Center has announced a collaborative relationship with the internationally-renowned OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.

The partnership will provide patients access to the latest treatments, clinical trials and second opinions from leading cancer doctors and researchers, said Odette Bolano, president and CEO of Saint Alphonsus Health System, during a Nov. 11 press conference.

“For more than two decades, Saint Alphonsus has been a leader in cancer care in the Treasure Valley,” said Bolano. “Not only will our patients and families continue to benefit from the Saint Alphonsus Cancer Institute – they will have also access to the Knight Cancer Institute’s expertise, personalized cancer medicine, research and additional clinical trials.”

The partnership will allow patients — especially those with complex and rare cancers — to receive care locally and stay in the community rather than traveling out of state.

“What we can add with the Knight Cancer Institute is a set of specialty trials that may not be available for patients in the Boise community,” said Dr. Uma Borate, oncologist and medical director of the Knight Cancer Network. “And to specifically mention Phase I, which are very early phase trials of drugs which are just being introduced into patients.”

The partnership is not just about new treatments or technologies but prevention as well. Dr. Andrew Pierson, medical director of Saint Alphonsus, said they could do a better job with preventative strategies overall.

Pierson said the merge with Knight Cancer Institute will hopefully improve cancer prevention and help spread awareness in the community.

“[Knight Cancer Institute] did a big assessment of the needs of our community, and it turns out that the melanoma rate in Ada County is a bit higher than it is elsewhere,” Pierson said. “So is our mortality rate, which doesn’t quite make sense because we have newer treatments and our mortality rate shouldn’t be higher — that may be an area where it’s awareness.”

The Knight Cancer Institute is also interested in detecting cancer early. Pierson is hopeful the new relationship will make a significant impact in early cancer detection at Saint Alphonsus.

“We kind of see this relationship as hopefully attacking cancer when people need treatment,” Pierson said. “But it would be nice if we could also pick things up earlier, or just prevent it altogether.”