Rogel Cancer Center earns prestigious rectal cancer accreditation

Media contact: Nicole Fawcett, 734-764-2220 | Patients may contact Cancer AnswerLine™, 800-865-1125

This recognition from the Commission on Cancer signals advanced technical expertise, multidisciplinary care for rectal cancer

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — The University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center has earned a three-year accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer, a quality program of the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer.

To achieve voluntary NAPRC accreditation, a rectal center must demonstrate compliance with the NAPRC standards addressing program management, clinical services and quality improvement for patients. Centers are required to establish a multidisciplinary rectal cancer team that includes clinical representatives from surgery, pathology, radiology, radiation oncology and medical oncology. Rogel has had a multidisciplinary rectal cancer team for more than a decade.

Additionally, the program met standards addressing the clinical services the rectal cancer program provides, including carcinoembryonic antigen testing, magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography imaging for cancer staging that allow patients to start treatment within a defined timeframe. Rectal cancer programs accredited by the NAPRC undergo a site visit every three years and are also accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.

“This accreditation is testament to the Rogel Cancer Center’s dedication to quality care for patients with rectal cancer. This is a complex cancer. Our collaborative team includes specialists from all aspects of rectal cancer care to help ensure that every patient has their best chance of a good outcome,” says Samantha Hendren, M.D., MPH, surgical director of Rogel’s Multidisciplinary Colorectal Cancer Program and associate professor of surgery at Michigan Medicine.

Accreditation by the NAPRC is granted only to those programs that are committed to providing the best possible care to patients with rectal cancer. The NAPRC provides the structure and resources to develop and operate a high-quality rectal center and accredited programs follow a model for organizing and managing a rectal center to ensure multidisciplinary, integrated, comprehensive rectal cancer services.