Camping at Grand Canyon National Park

Ram Kancherla, MD, is the managing partner at the Hudson Valley Cancer Center, located in Poughkeepsie, New York. An oncologist by training, he has rbeen ecognized as a top doctor in his community, Ram Kancherla, MD, is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Founded in 1964, ASCO is the leading professional oncology association in the world. The organization’s mission is to conquer cancer through education, research, and promoting equitable, quality patient care. A great part of ASCO’s services is dependent on volunteers who are committed experts in their various professions.

Volunteers at ASCO get an opportunity to embark on a new challenge and be involved in framing ASCO’s work. They network with experts from other fields, building new relationships and strengthening their people skills. In addition to the above benefits, ASCO volunteers earn points toward designation as a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO).

Internal Medicine and the Internists

An attending physician at the Vassar Brothers Medical Center and the Mid Hudson Regional Hospital of Westchester Hospital, Dr. Ram Kancherla specializes in hematology and oncology. Before becoming a hematologist and oncologist. Dr. Ram Kancherla studied and practiced internal medicine as the focus of his residency at Kings County Hospital Center at the State University of New York in Brooklyn.

Internal medicine has the most specialists among all medical areas of specialization. Physicians who specialize in internal medicine are known as internists who focuses on the treatment and care of adult patients. According to the American College of Physicians, internists are the recipients of two-thirds of the clinical research funds coming through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Because of their training, internists have the knowledge to deal with a broad range of adult medical concerns. They are not confined to just one organ system. Internists treat a range of medical problems including allergies, respiratory ailments such as asthma and bronchitis, urinary tract infections, kidney stones, and even issues such as anxiety and depression.

Stem Cell Transplants and the Treatment of Cancer

With almost two decades of experience as an attending physician in Poughkeepsie, New York, Dr. Ram Kancherla is a managing partner at Hudson Valley Cancer Center. In 2000, Dr. Ram Kancherla wrote a chapter in a book about hematopoietic stem cell transportation. During his previous position at Westchester Medical Center, he focused on stem cell transplantation.

Many oncologists practice stem cell transplants, since they can be a way to help patients restore the blood-forming stem cells that they have lost during certain types of cancer treatments. Radiation therapy or high doses of chemotherapy, for example, can destroy the stem cells responsible for growing into blood cells like platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells, which are crucial for a healthy body.

Although most stem cell transplants do not work directly against cancer and only help the patient recover from the oncology treatment's effects, some types of cancer such as leukemia and multiple myeloma are directly affected by transplantation. In these cases, the donor’s white blood cells may attack the remaining cancer cells after the allogeneic transplant, enhancing the success of the cancer treatment.