WITH CANCER still the country’s second leading cause of death, the UST Benavides Cancer Institute is urging Thomasians and the public to move past one-size-fits-all ideas of treatment, pushing earlier screening and care plans tailored to each patient’s disease and lived experience.
“Even though they have the same type of cancer, or even if they have the same stage of cancer, each patient might have a different treatment approach or management,” said Dr. Rafael Jeric Bautista, a medical oncology fellow at the institute, in an interview with the Varsitarian.
Bautista said the institute commonly treats breast, lung, colorectal, and prostate cancers, patterns he said were “almost the same” as global data, with no inherent risk factors unique to Filipinos.
He reiterated that message during a forum on cancer awareness held Feb. 5, where he explained how cancer develops and what increases risk.
Bautista grouped risk factors into physical, biological, and chemical causes: ionizing radiation and ultraviolet rays; infections from bacteria, viruses, and parasites; and exposure to tobacco, alcohol, and other chemicals such as arsenic.
“In general, for you to prevent developing these types of cancers, you have to avoid being exposed to the causes that I have discussed,” he said.
He linked prevention to screening, citing mammograms for breast cancer and Pap smears for cervical cancer, along with imaging for high-risk patients for lung cancer and endoscopic procedures to detect suspicious polyps or tumors in colorectal cancer.
Bautista said vaccination could also reduce cancer risk by preventing infections linked to certain cancers, citing the hepatitis B vaccine, which lowers the risk of liver disease that can progress to liver cancer, and the HPV vaccine, which helps prevent cervical cancer.
“The best way to [deal] with the disease is for you to detect it early and for you to do the management earlier in the stage of the disease,” he said, adding that late or terminal stages often shifted goals toward palliative care rather than cure.
He identified barriers that keep Filipinos from timely screening and diagnosis: lack of knowledge on when to screen, stigma and fear of consulting a doctor, and the cost of procedures and diagnostic tests.
“Healthcare access might seem difficult here in the Philippines, but it’s still accessible,” he said. “It’s still better for you to consult a doctor than to consult the internet.”
According to Bautista, the institute’s care model emphasizes coordination and employs a multidisciplinary team to deliver personalized treatment, which he characterized as molecular and targeted oncology.
“We not only manage certain patients by ourselves; we refer them to other services such as radiation oncology [and] surgical oncology,” he said, adding that palliative care services were also available for patients with metastatic or stage 4 cancers.
To align plans across specialties, the institute holds regular tumor board meetings, including weekly boards for breast cancer cases, head and neck tumors, and gastrointestinal tumors, with radiologists and pathologists included in discussions.
“For us to provide the patient with the best possible management and care, we discuss it in this tumor board so that we have a consensus on the management of this patient,” Bautista said.
Bautista said public education remained central to the cancer institute’s work beyond World Cancer Day, citing regular forums and cancer awareness months for specific cancer types, often amplified through social media to reach more people.
UST marked World Cancer Day on Feb. 4 by lighting campus landmarks—including the Main Building, Arch of the Centuries, UST Hospital Benavides Cancer Institute, and the Santisimo Rosario Parish—in orange and blue.
In a circular issued by the Office of the Secretary General, the University outlined World Cancer Day activities running from Feb. 4 to 28 in coordination with UST Hospital and the cancer institute. The schedule includes forums on early consultation, screening, and detection on Feb. 5 and 19, and an art exhibit at the St. John Paul II Building’s upper ground floor.
Looking ahead, Bautista said research and academic collaboration would be crucial to improving patient care and informing future hospital and University policies.
He said the institute’s priorities aligned with UST Hospital’s goal of “the highest quality of patient-centered services,” aiming at delivering “customized and personalized management with the latest technologies and treatment.”
