About the Clinic

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doctors looking at a chart

Welcome to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Prostate Cancer Multidisciplinary Clinic (PCMC). Our clinic began in September 2008 as a service to the NCI community. Since then we have expanded our care to include any patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer. The clinic is federally funded. There is no cost to those receiving care at the NIH Clinical Center.

Our clinic is designed to provide the prostate cancer patient with a comprehensive consultation visit to discuss their diagnosis and treatment options. Many participants use this service to get a second opinion.

The clinic is comprised of a panel of physicians and health care providers within urologic oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, radiology and pathology. These specialists come together to examine your case in detail, provide recommendations and determine your treatment options, which include the potential for clinical trial participation at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Clinical Team

Theresa Cooley Zgela, RN
Patient Case Manager
Ph: 301-451-8905
theresa.cooleyzgela@nih.gov 

Kelli Brown Winstead, PCC
Patient Care Coordinator
Ph: 301-827-6348
brownkel@mail.nih.gov

Anna Couvillon, CRNP
Lead Nurse Practitioner
Ph: 240-858-3148
couvilla@mail.nih.gov

Consultations

As a part of your consultation visit, you will be asked to provide us with medical records or we can request it on your behalf. You may also be asked to undergo other tests and procedures before coming to clinic to help facilitate the treatment discussion.

For patients with metastatic prostate cancer, please contact the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch for information on consultations.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Anyone with biopsy-proven prostate cancer that has NOT spread to other parts of the body (non-metastatic)
  • Anyone who needs a second opinion about their diagnosis or treatment options for non-metastatic prostate cancer
  • Anyone who is considering treatment or a clinical trial at the NCI for non-metastatic prostate cancer

  • All medical records about your prostate cancer diagnosis
  • Pathology slides and report
  • Imaging studies on disc and report

  • PSA level and testosterone if it has been more than 3 months
  • Creatinine level to check your kidney function if you will have additional scans
  • Bone scan and CT of the abdomen and pelvis if your PSA level is over 10 ng/dl or the highest Gleason score is 7, 8, 9 or 10
  • MRI of the prostate if you did not have a pelvis or prostate MRI or if it is not of good quality

  • General review of your medical history, family history for cancer, and a physical exam
  • Complete review of any imaging studies and tissue slides provided
  • Face to face discussion about the diagnosis, treatment recommendations and the opportunity to ask questions
  • Information about clinical trials available at NIH
  • Case manager to help coordinate care and follow up as needed

The PCMC panel of physicians includes a surgical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, a medical oncologist, a radiologist, and a pathologist from the NCI. Each specialty assigns at least one (1) representative depending on their schedules.

Physicians involved in your care will make every effort to participate in the discussion of your case. However, there may be times when s/he is not able to participate.

We discuss more than one case at this time. Due to privacy and liability issues, neither you nor someone unauthorized to participate in PCMC can be in the room.

This is not possible at this time. We can give you a copy of the radiology and pathology report.

We encourage you to bring someone with you. Due to the size of the exam rooms, we ask that you limit your party to 1 or 2 person(s).

Video and audio recording is not allowed. We will give you a letter at the end of your visit that will summarize our recommendations. You may also request the progress note from medical records, after your visit.

We offer this service to the community. You are under no obligation to continue treatment with us. Patients are encouraged to discuss with their physicians and family their options and decide where to get their treatment.

Unless you were given another person to contact after your visit, you should contact your PCMC case manager for any questions or concerns.