If something suspicious is found during your screening exam, your next step is additional testing to determine if there is disease present, and to pinpoint the location and extent. Community Care Physicians has the latest, most innovative technology and sub-specialized experts to diagnose all types of cancers, so we can recommend the most effective treatment and recovery options for you.
Dermatology
If you have a suspicious skin lesion that was discovered by you or your doctor, Community Care Physicians’ dermatologists can diagnose your disease. Community Care Physicians has dermatology locations in Latham, NY. Patients with suspicious skin dysplasia can undergo a traditional biopsy and pathology to determine the type and extent of the disease. If cancer is confirmed, there are many additional options for treatment, including surgical excision of the cancer by a general surgeon or plastic surgeon and/or radiation oncology.
Community Care General Surgery
Surgery is done for many reasons, including to diagnose all types of cancer. Some types of surgery are minor procedures, while others are bigger operations. Community Care General Surgery works with other physicians involved in your care to help screen, diagnosis, and treat your cancer.
Our general surgeons perform preventive surgery to remove body tissue that is likely to become cancer, for example, precancerous polyps from the colon. They can also help to remove or excuse cancer, such as a lumpectomy, as well as to stage the disease.
Many of your biopsy procedures are also performed by a general surgeon. A biopsy is a procedure done to remove tissue (called a sample) from an area that may be cancer. That sample is then looked at under a microscope to see if there are cancer cells in it. Some biopsies may need to be done during surgery, but many types of biopsies are done by taking out small pieces of tumor through a thin needle or through a flexible lighted tube called an endoscope. Community Care Physicians’ Endoscopy and Surgical Care Suite is a three room suite providing upper and lower endoscopic services to individuals undergoing diagnostic or therapeutic procedures on an outpatient basis. Our facility offers the highest level of quality care for our patients before, during and after examinations.
Community Care Physicians’ General Surgeons are all board certified and the specialized nursing staff is highly trained. Community Care’s surgeons use the latest surgical techniques to diagnose all types of cancer.
Surgical procedures may include:
- fine needle aspiration biopsy core needle biopsy, excisional or incisional biopsy
- endoscopy
- laparoscopy
- open surgical exploration (laparotomy or thoracotomy)
- staging to find out how much cancer there is and how far it has spread
ImageCare Medical Imaging
Medical Imaging is the process of producing valuable pictures of the bodies’ structures and organs. It is used to detect tumors and other abnormalities, determine the extent of disease, and evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. When you need a medical imaging test, you’ll visit Community Care Physicians’ medical imaging practice, ImageCare Medical Imaging.
ImageCare diagnoses all types of cancer using the latest, state-of-the-art technology. For more than 30 years, ImageCare has provided screening and diagnostic medical imaging services to hundreds of thousands of Capital Region residents of all ages. Whether you need a mammogram, an MRI, CT/cat scan, PET Scan, or an Ultrasound, you will benefit from the recognized expertise of ImageCare’s board-certified, sub specialized radiologists and caring staff. ImageCare has multiple free- standing locations across that offer a comfortable setting, flexible scheduling, free and ample parking and fully digital technology.
Interventional Radiology
Procedures performed by an interventional radiologist are becoming increasingly important for patients with cancer, including for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer or cancer-related complications. Interventional Radiology is considered to be the cutting edge of medicine. Many of the image-guided procedures we offer can serve as an alternative to traditional surgery.
At Community Care Physicians, our interventional radiologists are board-certified physicians who specialize in minimally invasive, targeted treatment, with less recovery time compared to open surgery. These specialists apply all of the techniques used to image the body, such as x-rays and ultrasounds, to new, less invasive procedures that are used to diagnose and treat a variety of cancers.
Interventional radiologists can treat certain types of tumors by using extreme heat or cold to kill cancer cells. Using imaging technology for guidance, an interventional radiologist performs radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to treat cancer within several organs of the body, including liver, kidneys, lungs and bone. They do this using an instrument to apply heat (using radiofrequency, laser or microwave energy) or cold (a treatment called cryoablation) with the goal of eradicating all cancer cells. While surgery to remove these tumors is often the preferred treatment, many patients have disease that is too widespread or other medical conditions that make surgery risky or difficult. In addition, other patients have tumors that have recurred or have not responded to conventional therapies Interventional radiologists also offers embolization, offer needle biopsies, chemoembolization, tumor ablation, relief of obstructions and pain relief, catheterization to drain fluids.