Medical Oncology Unit, Sant'Andrea Hospital of Rome

ESMO Designated Centre of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care

History

The Sant’Andrea Hospital is a teaching hospital, which houses the Faculty of Medicine at the “Sapienza” University of Rome, devoted to basic and clinical research, didactic, and healthcare programmes.

Profile

The Oncology Institute has access to facilities and staff members that guarantee: cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, palliative and supportive care (physiotherapy rehabilitation, psychological support, pain management, management of terminally ill patients, hospice care) and alternative methods of complementary medicine (for example, clinical nutrition, acupuncture, art-therapy, tango-therapy).

Specialities   

The professional staff of the Oncology Department is composed by:

• Medical oncology doctors: trained in overall cancer patient care and in clinical cancer research.
• Medical oncology residents: training in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer as well as in palliative and supportive care.
• Psychologists: trained in dealing and working with cancer patients and their families.
• Qualified nurses: trained in chemotherapy preparation and administration and in cancer patient care.

Supportive and Palliative Medicine

The Oncology Institute at Sant’Andrea Hospital guarantees healthcare and assistance to cancer patients at every stage of disease and aims at “a total care approach” (i.e. cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, management of treatment side-effects, physiotherapy rehabilitation, psychological support for cancer patients and their families, pain control management, nutritional support, management of terminal cancer patients, hospice care). Our facilities and staff members can assure continuity of care, even in those patients who no longer benefit from conventional therapies, by guaranteeing specific programmes of palliative and supportive care.