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 Illinois CancerCare News
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| Illinois CancerCare News
Illinois CancerCare News
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05-05-09
Caterpillar Foundation Award Letter for the Peoria Cancer Center Foundation |
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The Caterpillar Foundation just announced a $50,000 challenge match for the Peoria Cancer Center Foundation. The Caterpillar Foundation will match up to $25,000 from Caterpillar employees and retirees and up to $25,000 from the Peoria area community.
Qualifying funds raised will be eligible for the challenge match. The funds will be designated specifically for assisting low income patients who cannot afford cancer treatment.
For more information about the Peoria Cancer Center Foundation, please visit their website at www.peoriacancercenterfoundation.com. |
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04-23-09
Health Expo Raises Cancer Awareness |
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04-23-09
April is National Oral Cancer Awareness Month |
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Oral cancer will be diagnosed in an estimated 35,310 people in 2008, and an estimated 7,590 people will die of the disease. Men are diagnosed with oral cancer more than twice as often as women. Because some oral pre-cancers and cancers can be found early, and one in four people diagnosed do not exhibit the known high-risk factors associated with the disease, it is important to visit your dentist regularly for screenings.
AT RISK
- People who chew or smoke tobacco or who drink alcohol to excess
- People who are exposed to sunlight for long periods of time
- People who do not eat many fruits or vegetables
- People with human papilloma virus (HPV)
- People with suppressed immune systems
RISK REDUCTION AND EARLY DETECTION
- Do not use tobacco in any form.
- Avoid excessive alcohol use, and do not combine alcohol with tobacco.
- Avoid being outdoors during the middle of the day when the sunlight is strongest.
- Use lip balm containing sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher to protect against sun damage to the lips.
- Eat lots of fruits and vegetables.
- Have an annual oral cancer screening by your dentist or health care professional.
- Conduct a self-examination once a month by looking in a mirror.
SYMPTOMS
- A white or red lesion on the lips, gum, tongue or mouth lining
- A lump or mass which can be felt inside the mouth or neck
- Pain or difficulty chewing, swallowing or speaking
- Hoarseness lasting a long time
- In any area of the mouth, numbness or pain that doesn’t go away
- Swelling of the jaw or loosening of the teeth
- Bleeding in the mouth
SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH YOUR LOVED ONES AND FRIENDS AND IF YOU SHOULD HAVE ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS, CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN IMMEDIATLEY.
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01-23-09
Imatinib Approved for Resected GIST |
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By Marsha Kutter, Research Business Administrator
On December 23, 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its approval for the use of Imatinib for treating a rare type of cancer called Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST). GISTs form from the cells found in the walls of the gastrointestinal tract. When found early, these tumors can be surgically removed. In spite of surgical resection, many of these tumors come back or recur, so medical scientists and physicians looked for a treatment to give after surgery to help prevent recurrence of GISTs. (We call this adjuvant treatment because it is given adjunctively after surgery as a way to prevent the disease from coming back.)
Up to this time there has been no standard drug treatment approved for patients with resected GISTs. Imatinib mesylate (trade name Gleevec) had already been approved to treat recurrent GISTs, so it was a good candidate for use after surgical resections of GIST.
Imatinib is a one of a category of drugs called Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors or TKIs. TKIs are very small molecules. They are so small that they can enter a cancer cell and work inside the cell, blocking certain enzymes from signaling the cell to divide and grow. TKIs are part of a growing body of treatments called targeted therapies because they work on specific cancer cells and tend to leave normal cells unharmed. They “target” the cancer cell.
Physician investigators at Illinois CancerCare and the Illinois Oncology Research Associates Community Clinical Oncology Program (IORA CCOP) participated in the cancer clinical trial, Z9001, which helped get the FDA approval for Imatinib for resected GISTs. Patients in central Illinois received treatment with Imatinib on Z9001, and information on their treatment course helped get this drug approved for use in resected GISTs. The IORA CCOP is funded by a Federal grant from the National Cancer Institute, grant #CA35113. This funding and the commitment to research of Illinois CancerCare physicians allows us to bring cutting edge treatments to the people of central and western Illinois. |
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01-22-09
Illinois CancerCare Patient Newsletter Available Online! |
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Hello patients, friends and family! Illinois CancerCare is proud to introduce an online version of our Patient newsletter.
Since our newsletter's inception in Novemeber 2008, we have release three issues! We wanted to keep everyone, meaning patients, family, staff and friends, informed of the positive developments about cancer. Our newsletter also elaborates on the services that we provide, which truly makes us a state-of-the art cancer center, located here in Peoria, Illinois.
Here is a glimpse of what you will find in our newsletter:
* Information about our volunteers, physicians and staff
* Peoria Cancer Center Foundation (ways to help, the purpose of the foundation, why it means so much to the community)
* Physician involvement in the community (fundraiser events, speaking engagements, marathons, etc.)
* Current cancer development and research
* Nutritional recipes
* Information about our social services (Cancer Center for Healthy Living and American Cancer Society)
* Calendar of events around the area
Interested? Here's how to get to our newsletter: You can view the newsletter by going to our website at www.illinoiscancercare.com. When you reach our homepage, click on the patient link. You will find our newsletter under the news section on the left-hand side of the navigation bar.
Click here to go directly to the newsletter. |
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01-21-09
Oral Sex Linked to Head and Neck Cancer |
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By: Patrick Gomez, MD Illinois CancerCare
While the information contained in this article is sensitive in nature, it is incredibly important to get out to the residents of Bloomington/Normal. If you personally are involved in a lifestyle that is mentioned in this article, please take time to really read and digest this information. If you are a parent of children who might benefit from this article, please take time to talk to them and share this information.
From a medical perspective, oral sex is sex, and generally, as practiced, it is unsafe. Most people don’t realize that sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and human papilloma virus (HPV) can take hold in parts of the oral cavity during sex with infected partners, and that in reverse oral contact can infect the genitals, too. HPV is a particularly scary threat, since it incubates silently in the back of the mouth and is now linked to a dangerous form of throat cancer in both men and women similar to the one that rises in the cervix.
Head and neck cancers, which can attack the mouth, nose, sinuses, and throat, have been diseases of people over 50 with a history of heavy smoking and drinking. With the decrease in smoking and use of chewing tobacco, these disfiguring cancers have been on a steady decline. The problem: this triumph of prevention has been clouded by an unexpected increase in oropharyngeal cancer, which develops in the tonsils and the base of the tongue and is apt to show up in those who don't smoke or drink heavily, and in younger people. Researchers from Johns Hopkins reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that between 1973 and 2004 there has been a near doubling of the incidence of these HPV-related oral cancers among people in their 40s.
The rise in oropharyngeal cancer is linked to changing sexual practices and, in particular, ones that involve bathing the throat with HPV-infected fluid. Increasingly, scientists are implicating HPV-16, and in some cases 18, the same ones that cause cervical cancer. In a Swedish study conducted in 2006, it was found that of the preserved surgical specimens from excised oropharyngeal cancers going back over 30 years HPV-16 was identified in less than a quarter of specimens removed in the 1970s. By the 1990s, the proportion was 57 percent. After 2000, it was 68 percent. In 2007, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found HPV-16 in 72 percent of oropharyngeal cancers in the United States. These findings give cause for alarming medical concern that the increased infection rates are indeed being acquired through unprotected oral sex.
The fact that our children might be at growing risk for this deadly cancer is particularly unnerving. Health surveys indicate that well over half of American teens now engage in oral sex. These behaviors are fueled by the adolescents' belief that oral sex is risk-free play, making it more common and acceptable. A group of researchers determined that more than 80 percent of adolescents whose ages range from 16 to 21 failed to protect themselves with condoms during oral sex. This is an age group well known for diligently using them during vaginal sex.
The relative ease and growing frequency of oral sex among those engaging in casual “relationships” is a virtual epidemic in the making. Providing our young people with medical information and stern parental and medical guidance is long overdue. The abstinence message should be foremost and explicit. But it's not always enough. Our children must be informed that safe sex applies to sex by mouth, too. And, that's a message for all ages.
For more information, you may contact Illinois CancerCare at 309-662-2102 or online at www.illinoiscancercare.com. References available upon request. |
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01-20-09
The Origins of Chemotherapy |
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By: Michele Woods, Oncology Pharmacy Clinical Specialist
I would like to share with you some of the history behind the development of cancer medications. I think you will be surprised to learn where the chemotherapies we use today came from.
Our story begins with victims of nerve gas exposure during WWI. It was observed that in addition to reddening and blistering the skin, blistering the lining of the lungs, and eventually rendering the victim blind, mustard gas also attacked the white blood cells and lymphatic tissue. By the early 1940s, two pharmacologists named Goodman and Gilman were doing experiments that involved administering a nitrogen mustard to mice and then to a human with lymphoma. Drug products currently in use include mechlorethamine, cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil, and melphalan. Surprisingly, a new chemotherapy agent derived from the nitrogen mustard chemical structure was just approved by the FDA this year.
Although the first chemotherapy agents were poisons – and that is certainly the association that many of us have, not all cancer treatments began as toxic chemicals. A surprising number of chemotherapy agents used to treat cancer have origins as natural products. In fact, around twenty-five percent of all prescription drugs in the United States are derived from plants. The potential for discovering medicines is often cited as an argument for international cooperation in preserving tropical forests. Because the useful products that are found can often be extracted profitably from the plants and animals of the rainforest, bio-prospecting can also function as a means for supporting conservation efforts.
Bio-prospecting may sound like the new gold rush, and in a way, it may be. “Panning” for new drugs can work in either of two ways. Some researchers spend time discussing the plants used by local healers, and then investigating those plants to see how they produce their effects. Other researchers, working on the assumption that surprises may be lurking under every leaf, collect samples of as many plants as possible and test each one for activity against hundreds of diseases.
Here is an example of how the first method of bio-prospecting was used to advance cancer treatment. The periwinkle plant has historically been used to treat a wide assortment of diseases. In India, juice from the leaves was used to treat wasp stings. In Hawaii, it was boiled to make a poultice to stop bleeding. In China, it was used as an astringent, diuretic, and cough remedy. In Central and South America, it was used as a homemade cold remedy to ease lung congestion, inflammation, and sore throats. Throughout the Caribbean, an extract from the flowers was used to make a solution to treat eye irritation and infections. It also had a reputation as a magic plant; Europeans thought it could ward off evil spirits, and the French referred to it as “violet of the sorcerers.” It is easy to see why ethnobotanists selected the periwinkle for further study. In the laboratory, bench scientists were able isolate and determine the anticancer activity of the vinca alkaloids from the periwinkle plant. Vinca alkaloid chemotherapies include: Vinblastine, vincristine, vindesine, and vinorelbine.
Drugs to fight cancer have also been developed via the second method of bioprospecting. Although the ethnobotanical records have shown that some of the medicinal properties of the Pacific yew have been known for centuries, it wasn't well studied until 1966, when it was included in a massive screening of 35,000 species by the United States National Cancer Institute. The bright red fruits of yews are called arils and each cups a single seed. The arils, which are moderately sweet, are the only parts of the plant that do not contain poisonous alkaloids called taxanes. The seeds are deadly, so it is not recommended that people eat the arils. Monroe Wall, a chemist from North Carolina, extracted paclitaxel from the bark of Pacific yew and identified it as the outstanding compound having anticancer activity.
Quite a few other cancer treatments have natural origins. Even this year a new cancer fighting drug was introduced that has its origin from soil bacteria found only in the mud of the Zambezi River. However, much of modern cancer research has moved away from natural products into technology. Research has focused on using technology to find new ways to target cancer cells specifically, while leaving healthy cells intact – a technique that promises to make cancer treatments more effective while reducing unpleasant side effects. |
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09-29-08
Would You Have Surgery to Prevent Cancer? |
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Peorian doesn't have breast cancer, but knows there is an 80 percent chance of it developing
By CATHARINE SCHAIDLE OF THE JOURNAL STAR Posted Sep 28, 2008 @ 12:30 AM Last update Sep 28, 2008 @ 01:23 AM |
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| PEORIA — The last thing one would associate with the petite, vivacious woman with dark hair and twinkling eyes is a life-threatening disease.
And the fact is, Catherine D'Souza is a healthy woman - today.
But there is a sword hanging over her head because recently she tested positive for the gene mutation that causes both breast and ovarian cancer. This means she has up to an 80 percent chance of developing breast cancer and about a 30 percent risk for developing ovarian cancer.
Faced with this information, what would you do?
D'Souza has decided to undergo both a mastectomy and an oophorectomy to remove her ovaries in a preventive strike to drastically cut her risks.
"This is about risks and what a person is willing to live with," D'Souza said. "Even a 30 percent chance of getting cancer to me is too high because I do not ever want to be treated for cancer. Chemo itself can kill. Once you get cancer, you are always afraid of getting it again, and that's just breast (cancer). Most ovarian cancer patients die within five years. My dad has always said, 'If it happens to you, it's 100 percent.' "
D'Souza is proof that breast cancer genes are not only passed on by women. Men are equally culpable. Her paternal grandmother, who died of breast cancer at age 44, is one of three sisters who died of breast cancer before age 60.
In the next few months she will have the surgeries so that she does not have to deal with chemotherapy and radiation which are standard fare for treating cancer.
"I'm afraid that if I had cancer I could die, and my kids would have to grow up without me," said D' Souza, who with her husband, Nirain, have four children, ranging in age from 1 to 9.
Although she has always known her family history, the push to get tested became stronger as D'Souza turns 39 next month and fears that the next decade for her may be cancer-stricken.
"It's all about playing the odds, like Russian roulette," she said. "There are no guarantees about the outcome."
Her family members, who may have inherited the same genes, have reservations about genetic testing, because knowing would mean having to act, or not, which is a decision in itself. She thought her two brothers and cousins who are descendents of the grandmother and grand-aunts who died of breast cancer would jump at the opportunity to learn their own risk.
"If you can test for high risk, wouldn't you be relieved to know where you stand, especially if you had always known you were at high risk?" she said.
Apparently not everyone wants to know.
"The women in my family don't want to test because they're afraid they'll wake up the next day with cancer," D'Souza said. "I was hoping my family would test so they would understand what I was going through or that they would appreciate learning about this test."
About BRCA
As the American Cancer Society explains it, breast cancer genes, or BRCA1 and BRCA2, are DNA repair genes that can be passed on down the bloodline. The problem occurs when they are mutated and lose their ability to repair tumor suppressor genes. Thus cancer is more likely to develop.
Mutated genes may account for up to 10 percent of all breast cancers. Women with mutated BRCA1 genes have a 46 percent to 80 percent chance of developing breast cancer and about 30 percent to 60 percent risk of developing ovarian cancer.
For the general population, the risk is about 12 percent for developing breast cancer and about 2 percent for ovarian cancer.
As D'Souza, who is a BRCA1, has shown, the mutation can affect men, too. Men with a BRCA2 mutation have a 1 in 14 risk of developing breast cancer, about 80 times higher than the risk for men in the general population without the BRCA2 mutation.
For these men, there is an above average chance of contracting other cancers - pancreatic, stomach and prostate cancers. The children of anyone with mutative cancer genes have a 50-50 chance of inheriting it.
Effect on family
What Catherine D'Souza does with the results of her genetic tests affects the whole family. Nirain D'Souza stands staunchly behind his wife's decision. As a physician himself, he understands the problem only too clearly, but that doesn't make the choices or the decisions any easier.
"I think it's a lot to contemplate when you're not actually sick," Nirain D'Souza said. "How do you go around explaining you're not sick, but have the potential to prevent that?"
"As a physician, you're treating people all the time, but this is a little different," said the orthopedic surgeon. "I'm very proud that she was brave enough to get herself tested, but it's not easy."
Did he ever consider the pending surgery to be a little drastic?
"I never thought it was not necessary," D'Souza said. "But it has to be her decision."
Even after prophylactic mastectomy, there is still a chance Catherine could contract breast cancer.
"It's not zero, but your risk goes down substantially," Nirain D'Souza said.
For now he says it's easier to focus on the mundane: "When is the surgery going to take place; who's going to do it; who will look after the kids; who will look after Cathy. While all this is going on I still have to work; life goes on."
Genetic testing is covered by insurance which Nirain D'Souza says shows they themselves recognize what a tremendous risk it is for genes with mutations.
"The cold reality is it is far more cost effective for treatment before than after," he said.
The federal government recently passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act which takes effect in 2009.
"This means you can't be discriminated against or denied health care if you test positive," he said.
FORCE
Although Catherine D'Souza is now a stay-at-home mother, her situation has been intellectually stimulating, and she is hungry for more knowledge and information on the disease and its variations: what kinds of tests are available locally or elsewhere.
Before becoming a full-time mother, she was a researcher and medical writer.
"It is really interesting for me to study the magnitude of genetic mutations," she said.
If she stops to think about herself, Catherine D'Souza is terrified, so perhaps starting a movement that will help others explore the status of the DNA they've inherited is one way of coping. She has formed the local chapter of Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, or FORCE, a national organization that helps others in a similar situation make educated choices.
"Since no one in my family has tested, there is no one else for me to talk to," she said. "This is just a sanity-saver to identify with others in the same situation. Other than online, I've yet to meet someone who has my problem."
The surgeries will probably take place after the new year - the mastectomy and breast reconstruction will have to heal completely before the oophorectomy. Although the initial burden of making a decision has been lifted, the reality may be more complex. Even after Catherine has healed from both surgeries, there is still the gut-wrenching problem, which Nirain D'Souza voiced: "When do we tell our children - we have three girls - that they, too, may be in the same situation?"
Catharine Schaidle can be reached at 686-3290 or cschaidle@pjstar.com. | |
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08-20-08
Dr. Greg Gerstner joins Illinois CancerCare |
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Dr. Greg Gerstner, MD grew up in Morton, IL where he graduated in 1993. He earned his bachelors degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign, and his medical degree from Southern Illinois University. Dr. Gerstner completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio then went on to complete his hematology/oncology fellowship at the University of Arizona in Tuscon in June of 2008.
Dr. Gerstner is married and together and they have2 children, son Tyler age 2 and daughter Ellie age 7 months.
His wife Tara completed her undergrad studies at Wesleyan in Marketing and went on to get her Masters degree at the University of Texas. Before children she was in management marketing with AT&T and then began working in the not for profit sector in marketing/web design, as well as teaching business and marketing in the high school setting. She is looking forward to getting settled and looking for a part time opportunity in the Peoria area.
Dr. Gerstner enjoys spending time with his family and his hobbies include hiking, running, and tennis (where he was first seat at Morton high school) as well as being an avid soccer fan.
Dr. Gerstner will be seeing all types of hematology and cancer patients and is located in the D Pod, in the very office of his recently retired father, Dr. Jim Gerstner.
When asked what his biggest challenge and greatest joy was in coming back home to central Illinois to practice hematology/oncology where his father did he replied, “the joy is coming home to continue the work that my father helped start in central Illinois over 30 years ago, working along side and partnering with the very physicians that were my father’s partners.” His challenge, “filling my father’s shoes.”
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02-26-08
Illinois CancerCare—A Truly Comprehensive Cancer Center |
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According to projections by the American Cancer Society, more than twelve million new cases of cancer would be diagnosed across the globe last year. Nearly one and a half million of those cases would be in the United States, and over sixty-two thousand right here in Illinois. Globally, nationally, or locally, those cases may seem like nothing more than statistics, unless you or one of your loved ones is the one in three affected by cancer in your lifetime.
The physicians and staff at Illinois CancerCare pay close attention to the statistics—they are deeply involved in cancer research—but never to the exclusion of seeing their “cases” as human beings. Amidst all those numbers representing newly diagnosed cancers, they see hope.
“Research is hope,” says Kollet Walty, Illinois CancerCare’s Director of Marketing. She points out that this center serving central Illinois is recognized as one of the top in the nation for its cancer care and received a 2007 Clinical Trials Participation Award—one of only ten awarded annually—from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. “Our patients are getting the best and latest from a national award-winning research facility. Our goal is to be the best at what we do, which is balancing compassion and care with science and research to provide safe, effective treatment.”
Founded in 1977 as Oncology Hematology Associates, the center has recently undergone a name change to clarify its role in providing comprehensive care for people with cancer or blood disorders. “People may not know what ‘oncology’ and ‘hematology’ mean, but our new name and logo clearly express what we offer patients in central Illinois,” says Walty.
Illinois CancerCare comprises seventeen clinic locations in the region. Most of its thirteen physicians hold double or triple board specialty certifications, in internal medicine, medical oncology, hematology, and infectious disease. They are based in Peoria and regularly travel to the other clinic sites to treat patients in their hometowns. Individual doctors always practice at the same clinics, ensuring continuity of care for patients.
Walty emphasizes that a diagnosis of cancer affects the whole person—it’s not just about a tumor. “It’s very emotional. For the patient and family to get through treatment and care, the needs of the patient as a whole must be considered.”
Operating as a one-stop shop for care, Illinois CancerCare in Peoria is located at the Peoria Cancer Center, which offers a full array of standard treatments, radiation oncology services, diagnostic scans and X-rays, labs, a retail pharmacy, and a café. It houses a Cancer Center for Healthy Living satellite office, which provides such essential patient support services as nutritional counseling, psychosocial support, yoga, massage, and patient support groups. The American Cancer Society has a patient navigator on sight to help with patient needs as well.
In addition to an employed staff of over two hundred, there are about forty dedicated volunteers—many cancer survivors or family members—spend time with patients while they receive treatment. They pass out treats, blankets, teddy bears, and other comforts.
Delivering World-Class Care to Your Hometown
Illinois CancerCare offers the latest PET/CT scanner for diagnostic testing. One of only seven in the world, and the only one in a U.S. private oncology clinic, this scanner is used to help doctors detect cancer in its early stages and also helps monitor treatment progress to determine effectiveness. It combines static images of the patient’s anatomy through computed tomography (CT), and dynamic images of the patient’s metabolic activity through positron emission tomography (PET). Kollet Walty explains that the PET image overlays the CT image, much in the way that a “moving” weather system overlays a map seen on a weather report.
This technology boasts many advantages over using separate scans. The patient endures only one scan rather than several. Physicians can more easily compare the images and determine patient response to treatment without waiting till the treatment regimen has been completed. The image’s clarity can lead to a more definitive diagnosis, helping to avoid more invasive procedures, such as biopsies. But it can also dictate whether it is necessary to do a biopsy if abnormal results are found.
State-of-the-art technology, the latest therapies, and clinical trials underscore the commitment by Illinois CancerCare physicians to offer patients in central Illinois world-class care for cancer and blood disorders. They want patients in Canton or Princeton, for example, to be able to stay home with their families and get the same level of care as if they were going to Mayo Clinic.
To achieve this goal, doctors here helped found a national organization called Cancer Clinics of Excellence™ (CCE) last May. April Hammer, the Chief Clinical Officer at Illinois CancerCare, also serves on CCE’s Board of Managers. According to Hammer, community-based oncologists like those at Illinois CancerCare (as opposed to medical school-based oncologists), provide the majority of cancer care in the United States. Using established guidelines developed by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American Society of Clinical Oncology as a foundation, CCE creates “evidence-based treatment protocols” (ETPs). Using ETPs ensures that a patient in Illinois receives the same treatment—based on clinical evidence of its effectiveness—as a patient in California or North Carolina.
CCE’s goal is to “bring together like-minded practices and expand on NCCN and ASCO guidelines to make them relevant to community-based oncology,” Hammer explains. “ETPs are the backbone. Average patients—those patients we treat here every day—and clinical trials together shape ETPs. They give oncology practices a template to work from to ensure future quality care in diagnosis, treatment, follow-up care, survivorship issues, and palliative and hospice care.” Currently, twenty-one practices across the United States—more than four hundred physicians—have become members of CCE.
Clinical Trials
Clinical research is an important part of the Illinois CancerCare practice and involves studies designed to evaluate possible new treatment options. Clinical trials test the safety and effectiveness of new or modified cancer drugs, new drug doses, new approaches to surgery or radiation therapy, different combinations of treatments, and symptoms and side effects of treatment.
Illinois CancerCare’s primary research affiliation is with the Mayo Clinic and its North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG). Participation in clinical trials to this level means that the Illinois CancerCare physicians are able to bring the most current cancer research to the residents of central Illinois.
Heather Burks, a Certified Clinical Research Professional, serves as Illinois CancerCare’s Clinical Research Coordinator, managing a staff of 19 researchers. She says that, since 1984, the center has been a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP). This federally funded program helps cover part of the necessary infrastructure costs that are required of a quality clinical research program. Burks explains that NCI has never denied funding to Illinois CancerCare, despite stiff competition with top-notch researchers around the country.
Dr. Sachdev Thomas, triple-certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology, says, “We have competed successfully for NCI research grants and have been funded continuously for twenty-eight years without a break by NCI—that’s a record. And all those federal dollars have gone into this community.”
More recently, Congress has cut funding for these grants by ten percent per year. At the same time, costs to conduct clinical trials continue to rise. According to Burks, “Typically, small cancer centers are cutting out their research. But our doctors want to add patients to clinical trials, so they have funded the shortfall themselves. They are very committed to being able to provide research to patients.”
In addition, the physicians created the Peoria Cancer Center Foundation in 2002 as a fundraising arm. Initially, the Foundation passed donations to other cancer foundations, such as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the American Cancer Society. Now, however, funds will also be used to help offset some of the underfunding; looking to add more patients into clinical trials here in central Illinois, as well as education and awareness efforts that will help with prevention and early detection.
Illinois CancerCare participates in broad categories of clinical trials for treatment, symptom management, and cancer prevention. All trials are typically divided into three phases. For example, Phase I drug treatment trials (which are not conducted here) determine a maximum tolerated dose for humans. Participants are usually people with advanced cancer who have exhausted all treatment options and are involved to help others.
Phase II trials—also called the activity phase—ask the question, “Does the drug really do something?” In these trials, the drug is used for the first time against a specific tumor type. Five, ten, or twenty institutions might be involved.
Phase III trials compare a standard treatment to a new treatment that has come through a Phase II trial. Half the participants are given the older, standard treatment and half the new treatment that is being tested. In Phase III, many institutions throughout the country participate.
Dr. Thomas says that Illinois CancerCare conducts about fifty percent Phase II and fifty percent Phase III trials. “In some trials, we have been the leading institution.” He has been the principal investigator for several trials and a co-investigator for many.
“Fifty percent of the clinical trials in central Illinois are done here,” he explains. The results of around one thousand studies have been published in medical journals in the last several years. Burks says, “It’s important to realize that some of the standard cancer treatments used nationwide have come out of trials that we—and our patients—have participated in.”
Personal Cancer Care
Sam Polito is a cancer survivor. In 1991, in his early twenties, he was diagnosed with stage II Hodgkin’s disease, a malignant lymphoma. He considers himself extremely fortunate to have been in the care of Illinois CancerCare’s Dr. John Kugler from the beginning. Polito spent about eight months in treatment: six cycles of chemotherapy, followed by six weeks of radiation. His daughter Alexa was about a year old then. He knows that the staff’s willingness to let Alexa be with her dad during chemotherapy helped him through the ordeal. “She was my inspiration,” he says. “She made me determined to beat the cancer, and the staff went the extra mile to make sure I was as positive as I could be.”
Polito, his wife Stephanie, and Alexa moved to Maine a couple of years later. He was diagnosed with cancer again in 1997 by a Boston oncologist. Polito called Dr. Kugler “for reassurance” and was told that his Boston doctor had “written the book on Hodgkin’s disease.” In spite of that expertise, the Politos returned to Peoria for the support system of family and friends but also for the “level of comfort” he felt at Illinois CancerCare. He completed his treatment right here in Peoria.
Since then, Polito has been doing well. His annual check-ups take place in one day—Dr. Kugler reviews his labs and chest X-ray results within an hour and then gives him a physical—and he’s done for the year.
Polito can’t say enough about the quality of care he continues to receive at Illinois CancerCare. “They have everything there in one place, and they do so much for people. It’s a comfortable place that doesn’t feel like a medical facility.” He finds the landscape views—water, prairie grasses, cattails—beautiful and calming. But it’s most rewarding to see the delighted expressions on the faces of staff members who haven’t seen him, his wife—or daughter Alexa—for years.
Illinois CancerCare, P.C., is located at 8940 N. Wood Sage Road in Peoria (off Route 91). The phone number is 309-243-3000 or toll-free at 866-662-6564. Their Web site is www.illinoiscancercare.com. For information or questions about the Peoria Cancer Center Foundation call 309.243.3422 or visit www.peoriacancercenterfoundation.com.
by Becky Rundall |
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02-26-08
Med Advances Article |
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They may have a new name, but the vision and mission are still the same for the physicians and employees of Illinois CancerCare in Peoria - providing state-of-the-art treatments for patients fighting against cancer and blood diseases, while also staying on the leading edge of breakthrough research and medicines.
Director of marketing Kollet Walty said, after 30 years, it was time to change the name of the former Oncology Hematology Associates of Central Illinois. The new name is easier to say and it is easier for people who need services to find the facility.
“The only people who knew or used that acronym OHACI was our staff and patients, but it meant nothing to anyone else,” Walty said. “We believe Illinois CancerCare is easier to remember and states clearly what we do.”
However, the cosmetic upgrade of the title does not mean there has been a change in services. At its location at the Peoria Cancer Center on Route 91 – and at the 15 other locations they boast throughout Illinois – the care a patient receives is truly comprehensive.
Walty noted that patients see their physicians and receive their chemotherapy or other treatments at Illinois CancerCare, and also benefit from the facility’s PET/CT scanner, which is the very latest technology, full lab, pharmacy and café.
“The care everyone has come to expect will remain the same under the new name because we have always tried to treat not only the disease, but also help with all of the patient and caregiver needs,” said Walty.
Other ancillary services provided at the Peoria Cancer Center include yoga, massage, nutritional and psychosocial counseling.
During the three decades doctors and staff have cared for Central Illinois patients, Walty said, they have never turned down someone for an inability to pay for services. In fact, they have full-time employees whose job is to secure medication and treatments for those less fortunate.
“Many people suffer very trying times due to their illness, and the last thing we want to happen is for them to worry about these things,” Walty explained.
“We don’t have to do this. We want to,” she added.
Walty noted one of the most powerful tools to assist a patient, and his or her family or caregiver, in the cancer journey is knowledge. This is why Illinois CancerCare prides itself on offering the latest clinical trials and advanced treatments.
“The breadth of research we have going on here is on par with any institution around the country - and that research ultimately provides hope for a cure,” Walty said, adding Illinois CancerCare received a national award in 2007 for being one of the Top 10 community cancer centers for their participation in clinical research trials nationwide.
Illinois CancerCare has been involved in clinical research since 1978, just one year after opening its doors, and has anywhere from 120 to 150 active studies going at any one time. It has research affiliations with the Mayo Clinic, the North Central Cancer Treatment Group, the research consortium located at the University of Chicago, to name a few. These partnerships allow them to bring the latest treatment options to Central Illinois patients that are only available through clinical cancer research trials.
The group was also a part of what changed things both nationally and internationally in terms of adjuvant therapy and colon cancer.
A trial that Illinois CancerCare physicians put together was the first to show postoperative benefit in high-risk colon cancer patients. Subsequent trials the group led, along with Mayo Clinic, are now considered the standard of care both nationally and abroad in adjuvant colon and rectal cancer.
“We played a vital part in early research of several drugs that have become very important in the arsenal of chemotherapy and supportive drugs used nationwide,” said Walty. “The treatments of today are due to the trials of yesterday.”
Early detection of cancer greatly increases chances of survival as well. Therefore, the physicians have funded educational programs, hosted awareness events and collaborated on various pre-screening events in various Illinois communities.
The Peoria Cancer Center Foundation was also formed to help with the under funding of clinical cancer research dollars. According to Walty, there have been government funding cuts for four years straight, and it is getting worse every year.
“Our physicians paid out more than $250,000 themselves to fund the shortage, and it could ultimately cause clinical trials to be scaled back,” noted Walty. “We need to help bring more patients into these trials in central Illinois, not less.”
As one of the largest private oncology practices in the nation, Walty said Illinois CancerCare is proud to say they’ve helped countless individuals overcome cancer to live healthy, inspiring lives.
“Until there is a cure for cancer, the residents of Central Illinois can be assured that they can receive no better care than that at Illinois CancerCare, period,” said Walty.
For more information or to make donations to the Peoria Cancer Center Foundation, call Walty at 309-243-3000 or go online at www.peoriacancercenterfoundation.com or www.illinoiscancercare.com.
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02-21-08
Meet the Physicians, Your Hometown Experts |
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02-21-08
Healthy Cells of Bloomington |
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02-06-08
International Campaign for a Smoke-free Childhood |
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February 4, 2008 was World Cancer Day. The theme of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) for this year is “Today’s Children, Tomorrow’s World.” On World Cancer Day, the UICC launched a new campaign on behalf of the world’s children called “I love my smoke-free childhood.” Nearly half of the world’s children are exposed to the air pollution and toxins of tobacco smoke, especially at home. The message to parents in this campaign is there are no safe levels of second-hand smoke exposure for them or their children. They should give their children a smoke-free childhood.
Among the 7 key objectives are raising pubic awareness through a global media campaign and local media coverage, working with organizations that could serve as catalysts for changing the smoking culture, and increasing the motivations to quit smoking.
There are plans to generate an internationally-recognized "No-smoking environment for children" symbol. They will have toolkits for teachers and smoking cessation resources for parents. For more information about this campaign, visit their website at World Cancer Day Promotes Smoke-free Childhood.
Illinois CancerCare cares.
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