Department of Internal Medicine UI cancer specialists team up to fight melanoma  Mohammed Milhem, M.B., B.S. Clinical Assistant Professor Division of Hematology, Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation
12/27/2007 Specialists with the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa are providing advanced care in a new multidisciplinary clinic for patients diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer. The rate of melanoma is on the rise across the nation, especially among people who work in careers with high exposure to the sun – such as road workers, construction laborers and farmers – and anyone who often vacations in warmer climates or tans frequently. Other risk factors include being severely sunburned between ages 3 and 20, being male and older than 50, a family history of melanoma, organ transplants, or bone marrow transplantation. Patients in the Melanoma Clinic benefit from the collaboration of health care professionals from many specialties, including dermatology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology-head and neck cancer, oncology, surgical oncology, and radiation oncology. The clinic's specialists have expertise in treating melanoma arising in difficult spots such as the face and ears, and they can provide more aggressive treatments. The clinic will offer prevention information and screening to people with a high risk for melanoma, in addition to treatment and follow-up care. The clinic will be held every Monday and staffed by both a dermatologist and oncologist. Appointments with oncologists for patients diagnosed with melanoma are also available every Tuesday and Wednesday. Physicians in the Melanoma Clinic include Mohammed Milhem, M.D., Mike Messingham M.D., Hisakazu Hoshi, M.D., James Howe, M.D., Henry Hoffman, M.D., Culver Boldt, M.D., John Buatti, M.D., and others with clinical expertise in the field. Appointments in the Melanoma Clinic can be made through the Dermatology Clinic with a physician's referral and on a self-referral basis. To schedule an appointment, call 319-384-9700. Referral requests can be faxed to 319-356-8317. Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center is Iowa's only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center. NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers are recognized as leaders in developing new approaches to cancer prevention and cancer care, conducting leading-edge research, and educating the public aboutcancer. |
