Annual Report 2021
Ladies Center
Tetsuo Akimoto, Toru Mukohara, Tatsuya Ohnishi, Hirosi Tababe, Masaki Nakamura, Kenichi Harano, Ako Hosono, Takeshi Kuwata, Junya Ueno, Asao Ogawa, Miki Kondo, Hatoko Sakamoto, Masato Yonemura, Ikuko Chiba
Introduction
The Ladies Center has established sections engaged in the following services, in addition to clinical departments providing surgery, chemotherapy/hormone therapy and radiotherapy and their supportive care, to facilitate an understanding by the patients of the therapeutic strategies available for female cancer patients and understand the characteristics and unique problems of these patients, and to promote organized cooperation among relevant clinical departments and professionals in multiple fields. The following services are provided in regular medical care under health insurance, and a system that allows these services to be provided to female cancer patients in a structured manner was established.
1) Fertility counseling/management
2) Support for young female cancer patients including children and the adolescent and young adult (AYA) generation
3) Social support and appearance counseling/support
4) Genetic counseling
5) Counseling/evaluation on the necessity of rehabilitation, including lymphedema, and management
6) Counseling on adverse reactions to chemotherapy/hormone therapy and other treatments
The Team and What We Do
The Ladies Center is staffed with medical staff and other personnel who manage female cancer patients in the female nursing outpatient clinic to help them understand their diseases, to understand the background characteristics and problems of individual patients through interviews and questionnaires, and to evaluate the necessity for counseling and support in cooperation with relevant clinical departments. Between April 2021 and March 2022, the Center handled 3859 inquiries, including 281 cases of counseling on life, 1154 cases of counseling specific to females-related problems, 324 cases of counseling on symptoms associated with treatment, 1954 cases of counseling on treatment, and 141 other cases. In addition, since medical staff with different specialties are required to handle medical or social issues for each case, regular multidisciplinary conferences of the persons in charge of the sections and of the female nursing outpatient clinic are held twice a month to strengthen cooperation among the sections. In the conferences, management and cooperation are discussed and feedback is given for better clinical management. Furthermore, a salon named “Kashiwanoha salon - to support your personality” was newly established at the National Cancer Center Hospital East when the Ladies Center was opened. In the salon, make-up classes, skin and nail care classes, classes for education on anticancer drugs, a peer supporters’ salon, and other activities are undertaken.
Research activities
1. In-hospital fertility counseling and management flow was created and a system for the management of fertility preservation in cancer patients and their families was developed. In addition, a lecture on fertility preservation was held.
2. A system for performing risk-reducing surgery for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC) was developed and risk-reducing surgery for patients with breast cancer or ovarian cancer has been continued.
3. An LGBT working group was started to adapt to issues related to gender and LGBT, and an education program for medical staff was initiated.
Education
An educational program for medical professionals who support cancer patients in the AYA generation was developed and began operation in fiscal year 2019, and continued in 2021.
Future Prospects
The Ladies Center was opened in September 2018. In the future, it plans to further promote the activities of the sections and improve the management of female cancer patients inside and outside the hospital.