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In 2016, I was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer. And I was, on one level, lucky. Lucky that, after not bothering to get a mammogram since 2011, I didn’t discover a tumor that had spread to other parts of my body. “After four years of not being screened, that is a blessing,” said Keesha… Read more »
Even with aggressive and skilled treatment, pancreatic cancer is often deadly. But, work by West Cancer Center’s Dr. Axel Grothey — in partnership with doctors at the Mayo Clinic — shows that a new treatment protocol offers better outcomes for patients with the disease. Research published in the Annals of Surgery details an approach used… Read more »
Patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and young adults with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia now have access to a procedure called chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, abbreviated as CAR-T. A collaboration between the physicians at the UTHSC Blood and Marrow Transplant Center and the clinical research team at West Cancer Center, supported… Read more »
The FDA has approved a new cancer treatment that is being used in the Bluff City. Doctors are convinced it could even cure some forms of cancer. This new cancer treatment is being called a game-changer. Doctors are now able to use a patient’s own immune system to attack cancers. In the heart of the… Read more »
Heather Greene, a nurse practitioner at West Cancer Center, discusses common treatment-related toxicities in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In terms of anti-VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), healthcare providers should be aware of potential diarrhea, hypertension, palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia, as well as skin and hair depigmentation, says Greene. Patients who are receiving mTOR inhibitors should be… Read more »
Bradley G. Somer, MD, associate professor of hematology/oncology, head of strategic expansion/development, University of Tennessee West Cancer Center, discusses the potential for immunotherapy combinations in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). In the CheckMate-214 study, the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) showed a clear survival advantage over the frontline standard-of-care sunitinib (Sutent)… Read more »
West Cancer Center is proud to introduce Dr. David B. Robins, MD our newest Pathologist to join our team. Dr. Robins completed his medical school training at University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1982. He then did his residency in anatomic pathology and a surgical pathology fellowship (with added emphasis in gynecologic pathology) at… Read more »
Daniel Vaena, MD, medical oncologist and hematologist, West Cancer Center, discusses the importance of risk stratification in prostate cancer. It is important to remember that patients need to be carefully selected for treatment based on risk stratification, says Vaena. There are many new therapeutic agents available to patients with metastatic disease and castration-naïve disease; however,… Read more »
As we move into holiday season, our Integrative Oncology department is launching a video ministry series for patients, caregivers, and staff members! Be on the look out each Wednesday for a video message from our Spiritual Council, including our very own Chaplain, Makeba Garrison! Our Council will be addressing things like grief, gratitude, meditation, and… Read more »
September is light blue ribbon month, also known as Prostate Cancer Awareness month It’s a time to recognize a disease that will cause the death of an estimated 30,000 men this year, one that affects one in nine men here in the U.S. African-American men are impacted in even greater numbers. One in six African-American men will develop… Read more »