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Scarless Thyroid Surgery | |
Join surgical oncologist Amelia Grover, MD, for a talk about the latest surgical developments in using the da Vinci robot in the treatment of thyroid cancer. The event will be held Thursday, July 22, from 5:30 to 6:30 PM, at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond.
Controversies in Prostate Cancer Screenings
Dr. Mayer Grob, from the Urologic Tumor Program at VCU Massey Cancer Center, will discuss the controversies in prostate cancer screenings on
Tuesday, Sept. 21, 5:30 to 6:30 PM, at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.
For additional information, contact Katherine Poarch, 828-0123. | |
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Join us for
the inaugural
Day of Celebration, Education & Commemoration |
The event honoring more than twenty years of transplantation and new beginnings in Massey's Bone Marrow Transplant Program will be held Sunday, August 8.
Designed to be fun for the whole family, the gathering will feature food, music, games, presentations on health and more.
Phone 804-828-1291 for information.
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 Save the Date! | |
Sunday, July 25
Music For Massey featuring Chris Isaak & special guests:
-- Marc Broussard
-- The Waybacks
Get the details! | |
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More Events | | |
Ride for Jim
August 21 and 22
Website; phone 828-1451
Pink Ribbons of Hope
Golf Tournament
Meadowbrook Country Club, Tuesday, August 24
For more, phone 828-0883
Highlands-Massey Classic Dinner and Auction
Saturday, Sept. 11
Website; phone 828-1451
Highlands-Massey Classic Golf Tournament
Monday, Sept. 13
Website; phone 828-1451
The Inaugural Wig Luncheon
The Milestone Restaurant
Sept. 25, at 1:00 p.m.
For more, phone 687-6773
Massey Alliance's Massey on the River
Presented by East End Resource Recovery
Rock Bottom Island
Saturday, Sept. 25
For more, phone 827-0642
Highlands-Massey Classic Bridge Tournament
Monday, Sept. 27
Website; phone 828-1451
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| Volume 3, Issue 5 |
July, 2010
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"You are cancer-free." |
Not many multiple myeloma patients ever hear those words.
When Dr. John McCarty, director of Massey's Bone Marrow Transplant Program, spoke them to Reed Whitener, it was a very bright moment at the end of eighteen long, and often very dark, months of fighting for his life. Thanks to new treatments developed through clinical trials, Reed is now on a path to be one of the first patients to be considered "cured" of this deadly disease.
Reed considered himself a typical 50-year-old family man -- a husband, father of three teenagers and busy salesman -- when he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare form cancer that attacks blood and bone, in September 2007. Historically, there is no cure for multiple myeloma, but significant advances in bone marrow transplants, particularly at National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers like Massey, have given many patients the ability to live with the disease much longer.
Reed was told he had a big fight ahead. "In my first consultation at Massey following my diagnosis, the doctor -- one of many who would be a part of my clinical team -- told me he couldn't tell me how long I would live, but he promised me that he would fight for me and my life as long as needed. And that's exactly what they have all done," Reed said.
Read more >> |
VCU Massey ranked in top 40 cancer centers nationally |
VCU Massey Cancer Center has been ranked 38th in the country by U.S. News & World Report's 2010-2011 publication of America's Best Hospitals. The U.S. News cancer center rankings are based upon many factors, including the hospitals' reputation with specialist physicians, level of nurse staffing and patient safety.
"This top 40 national recognition validates our success in advancing cancer care -- from discoveries in the lab to the most innovative treatments and therapies, and cutting-edge medical devices," said Gordon Ginder, MD, director of VCU Massey Cancer Center.
Read more >> |
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Massey advances use of robotics in cancer surgery | |
SCARLESS. Massey's Amelia Grover, MD, is the first physician in Virginia to treat thyroid nodules without leaving a scar on the patient's neck. Dr. Grover, assistant professor in the Department of Surgery's Division of Surgical Oncology, uses a new minimally invasive da Vinci robotic-assisted surgical procedure to accomplish this feat.
According to Grover, thyroid nodules -- lumps that commonly arise within an otherwise normal thyroid gland -- are more common in women and affect about 20% of the adult population. While only about 5% are determined to be cancerous, detecting and removing the nodules early is key to successful treatment. Using the da Vinci robot to assist with a thyroidectomy, noticeable scars on the neck are avoided since surgeons can remove the thyroid gland by making one small incision under the patient's arm.
FASTER RECOVERY. Massey's head and neck cancer specialists are using the da Vinci Robotic System to surgically remove cancer transorally, going through the mouth to avoid large incisions and cosmetic deformity that can result in significant speech and swallowing problems.
This new treatment option is for patients with cancers involving the tonsil, base of the tongue, the pharynx and the larynx. VCU Massey is one of only a handful of cancer centers in the country, and the first in the region, to use this technique.
"The main benefit of robotic surgery to treat oral cancers is the ability to address a tumor directly at the site, limiting tissue damage," said Dr. Nadir Ahmad, surgeon in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. "Patients treated with the transoral robotic surgery will generally have shorter hospital stays and faster recovery."
Read more >>
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Research Notes
Researchers discover key enzyme in melanoma cell development |
Massey researchers have discovered a mechanism by which an enzyme regulates growth in melanoma cells, a finding that could someday lead to more effective drugs to attack cancers and make them more treatable.
Melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, is highly resistant to current therapeutic strategies. As reported online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Massey's research suggests that a specific enzyme might be used to target a specific genetic component that defends melanoma cells against treatment.
"By selectively and specifically targeting for degradation molecules that serve as gatekeepers for cancer growth, progression and resistance to therapy, it may be possible to turn the cancer cells' defense into an offense that can be used as an effective approach to destroy the tumor," said Paul B. Fisher, PhD, MPH, the Thelma Newmeyer Corman Endowed Chair in Cancer Research.
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Two research initiatives awarded grants from the American Cancer Society | |
Two Massey researchers have received institutional research grants from the American Cancer Society. These grants are intended for new investigators to pursue basic, pre-clinical, clinical and cancer-control research studies.
Miyazaki Hiroshi, MD, PhD, will study how particular enzymes interact with a certain protein, named Scribble, in order to understand how they affect tumor suppression. Dr. Hiroshi is in search of a particular molecule that could be key to the development of tumors resulting from the human papilloma virus.
David Williams, Jr., MD, PhD, will study a specific complex of proteins, MBD2-NuRD, known to be involved in the development of breast, colon, prostate and other types of cancer. By learning more about the molecular structure, functions and interactions of the proteins, he hopes to develop a novel way for treating a wide range of cancers.
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Developing a new approach to fighting multiple myeloma |
Steven Grant, MD, Massey's associate director for translational research, as been recognized by the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation with a $100,000 award to support his latest research on the development of a new strategy for treating multiple myeloma, an incurable, malignant disorder of the bone marrow involving plasma cells.
As published in a recent edition of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Grant, collaborating with Yun Dai, MD, PhD, and Shuang Chen, MD, PhD, demonstrated that histone deactetylase (HDAC) inhibitors increase levels of the protein Bim in myeloma and leukemia cells. Increased levels of Bim help an agent known as ABT-737 trigger a tumor cell suicide process called apoptosis, thereby killing cancer cells.
Grant's team will combine HDAC inhibitors with ABT-737 to increase the ability of ABT-737 to induce multiple myeloma cell death. Having seen that survival proteins tend to override the effects of suicide proteins in cancer cells, the researchers are trying to reverse this paradigm and shift the balance away from survival and toward myeloma cell death.
This study is the first to investigate this new approach.
Read more >> |
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"Friends don't let friends Google health information." |
So says Nan Carmack, Director, Campbell County Public Library System. It is a good word to the wise.
The environment within which patients and caregivers find and consume health information has changed dramatically with diffusion of the Internet and changes in media health coverage. Studies have shown that while a majority of consumers would prefer going to their physician first for specific health information, when asked where they actually went, most reported going online first, where information is not always accurate, complete or up-to-date.
It is a case of "more is less." Online, there are so many more sources of medical information that it is increasingly difficult to pick out the ones that are trustworthy. What's a patient to do?
When in doubt, ask a librarian.
This is now much easier for Virginians in parts of the tobacco-growing regions of the state, with the launch of the Health Information and Advocacy @ Your Library (HIA) initiative. Funded by a grant from the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, the initiative provides health information through public libraries in Campbell and Pittsylvania counties today, and will be offered by other Southside Virginia counties in the near future.
"This is a valuable new resource," said Diane S. Adkins, Director, Pittsylvania County Public Library System. "As librarians, we know that there are many health information sites on the web, but significant numbers of sites are trying to sell you something, often something that will not help with the condition you have. Others provide alternative information with no medical basis at all. The web is not monitored; there is no Internet monarch determining what is posted there. So it's important to beware, especially when it comes to information about a health condition," Ms. Adkins said. A remedy is at hand, however.
"A direct outgrowth of the HIA grant funding is a web portal offering specially selected health resources that have been chosen by experts at VCU Massey Cancer Center," Adkins explained. "Offering a broad array of multi-cultural health topics, it is a place where librarians and patrons alike can find dependable sources of medical information." |
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Momentum is published by the VCU Massey Cancer Center.
David Raine, Jr.
Editor
804-628-1829
If you have questions about cancer, cancer treatments or survivorship, e-mail AskMassey@vcu.edu.
To learn more about VCU Massey Cancer Center, please visit our Web site at www.massey.vcu.edu. |
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