IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 27, 2009 – Oasis of Hope Hospital, which has been treating cancer patients from around the world at its facility in Mexico since 1963, is opening an integrative cancer treatment center in the United States.

Oasis of Hope California, at 6 Hughes St., Suite 120 in Irvine, will begin receiving outpatients Monday.

“This is a huge step in making the latest developments in integrative cancer treatment more readily available to people in the United States,” said Dr. Francisco Contreras, director, president and chairman of Oasis of Hope Hospital in Playas de Tijuana, Mexico.

“Insurance companies normally don’t pay for medical treatment in other countries. Now, that doesn’t have to be an issue for the majority of our patients who live in the United States.”

Oasis of Hope is pioneering a new approach to cancer treatment called Integrative Regulatory Therapy, and preliminary results have shown a dramatic increase in survival rates.

For example, 56 percent of the patients with end-stage breast cancer who have received this treatment are alive after three years. Under conventional treatment, such as surgery and chemotherapy, there is a 32 percent survival rate after three years, according to the National Cancer Institute in the United States.

The goal of conventional treatment is eradicating the tumor. Oasis of Hope focuses on the overall health of the patient, not just the tumor. In many cases, oncologists at Oasis of Hope have found that patients can manage cancer like a chronic disease such as diabetes, adding years to their lives.

Oasis of Hope’s integrative approach, combining the best of conventional and alternative therapies, is designed to destroy cancer cells, delay their growth and impede their spread. It employs chemotherapy and other conventional methods, but in concert with treatments that enhance their effectiveness and limit the side-effects.

Oasis of Hope California will be staffed by two distinguished physicians, Dr. Warren Fong, who did his residency at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy, medical director of the Center for New Medicine in Irvine and a frequent writer and guest in health publications and on broadcast outlets around the country.

Dr. Contreras, head of the education team in Irvine, will be onsite weekly as a guest speaker. Daniel E. Kennedy is the executive director of Oasis of Hope California.

The Center for New Medicine, located next to Oasis of Hope California, will provide support services for the new facility, including the most technologically advanced medical equipment normally found only at select university research hospitals.

Oasis of Hope California will provide accommodations for its outpatients at a picturesque conference and retreat center, Rancho Capistrano.

For more information about the treatment center, call 1-888-500-HOPE or visit www.oasisofhope.com.

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