Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Hampshire Oncology-Hematology, Dana-Farber Announce Affiliation

MANCHESTER, NH–New Hampshire Oncology-Hematology, PA, a regional group practice serving patients in Concord, Hooksett, Laconia, Exeter and Derry, and the renowned Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston announced an affiliation agreement today at a press conference in Manchester.

The affiliation builds on 25 years of collaboration between the two organizations in cancer care and enhances the access of southern and central New Hampshire patients to advanced cancer treatment and research.

“New Hampshire Oncology patients will be able to participate in selected Dana-Farber clinical trials at our offices in New Hampshire, trials that previously were only available to our patients in Boston,” said Charles Catcher, MD, a physician at New Hampshire Oncology-Hematology.  “Southern New Hampshire residents will now have enhanced access to Dana-Farber specialists.

“This is a very important opportunity for our region; it is the next step in a process that will combine the best of academic and community oncology resources,” Catcher said.  He added that New Hampshire Oncology and Dana-Farber are developing a series of educational programs for area patients and health-care providers.

“The expertise and high quality of care provided by New Hampshire Oncology makes working together very exciting for us,” said Lawrence N. Shulman, MD, chief medical officer and senior vice president for medical affairs at Harvard Medical School’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “By joining forces with our colleagues at New Hampshire Oncology-Hematology, we are working to make cancer care easier for our New Hampshire patients currently seen in Boston.

“At the same time, the advanced services and skills of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will also be close at hand and easily accessible for those who need them,” Shulman said.

Shulman and Catcher said that New Hampshire Oncology patients will benefit from the hundreds of clinical trials Dana-Farber offers, as well as a wide range of services and programs developed for the unique needs of cancer patients and family members, including pain and palliative care, complementary therapies, psycho-social support and special programs for cancer survivors.

The organizations have collaborated in many medical areas, including research, education and patient-care.“Our first cooperative group research agreement with Dana-Farber was in 1989, and we have participated very actively in two seminal breast cancer prevention trials,” Catcher said.  “We were also one of the most active sites in Dana-Farber’s navelbine/herceptin trial, and were pleased to have our practice mentioned in the recent Journal of Clinical Oncology article reporting those results,” he said.

Last summer, the two organizations offered a presentation on the latest research and discoveries in breast cancer. The talk, offered in Concord, drew patients from around the state and resulted in widespread interest in continued educational offerings. “We have brought in many speakers from Dana-Farber over the years to address the concerns of professionals, patients, and their families.  We hope to use our combined expertise to expand these services,” Catcher explained.

The next in the educational series will include a presentation on complementary medicine, featuring David S. Rosenthal, MD, medical director of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrated Therapies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The presentation will take place Monday, April 18th at 6 p.m. Dr. Rosenthal is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“This is an exciting and wonderful development for all of New Hampshire. Affiliating the strength of a well established, respected and research-oriented community cancer practice with the expertise of an esteemed academic cancer institute can only bode well for cancer care in our state,” Catcher added.

New Hampshire Oncology-Hematology, PA was founded in 1976 and has more than 100 employees, including nine board-certified or board-eligible oncologists/hematologists, serving patients from five locations throughout New Hampshire. New Hampshire Oncology has a vigorous clinical research program at all of its practice sites and is an At-Large-Affiliate of CALGB, an international cooperative research group.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School, and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. It has long been rated one of the nation’s leading centers for cancer care by U.S.News and World Report magazine.

< Back to press release list

Home | Our Practice | Staff | Research | Helpful Information | Cancer Topics
Education | Directions | Remembering a Loved One | Contact Us
Privacy Statement | NHOH In The News | Disclaimer