To provide the information your oncologist is not telling you or doesn't have the time to!
This post was written by our melanoma/sarcoma nurse navigator Ashlee Jones. She is highly respected by all members of my team to include the nurses, pharmacist, staff, research team, and physicians! I’ve always felt that new patients diagnosed with cancer can initially have a rough start in the journey given the new diagnosis, the array …
A recent publication by Dr Eroglu et al. in Cancer can be found here! Hope this articles helps! As an oncologist, my days are filled with fascinating and challenging cases, but one recent patient in particular caught my attention. He was a young man who had just undergone surgery to remove high-risk Stage IIC malignant …
Often I am asked about clinical trial options at our site or perhaps at other institutions. It is important for patients and families that they consider clinical trials at any point in their treatment journey. For most medical oncologist, it is preferred to consider a trial option if one is available to them and the …
Iovance recently announced their completion of the BLA to the FDA for Lifeleucel in Metastatic Melanoma. See press release here. Data for this study published in JCO here! This is a treatment protocol that we at the Orlando Health Cancer Institute have been very proud to have enroll and treat melanoma folks as well other …
As an oncologist, I see a lot of patients who are concerned about their health and want to do everything they can to stay on top of their cancer. One patient that comes to mind is a woman who I saw the other day with stage 1 rectal cancer treated with a trans anal excision …
I have sponsor, regulatory and IRB permissions/approval to post this blog publicly on social media. I am very excited about this protocol using intra-tumoral modified Polio viral therapy for patients with metastatic melanomas. Lerapolturev (formerly known as PVSRIPO) is a type of oncolytic virus that is currently being studied for the treatment of melanoma. An …
As a medical oncologist, I’m often asked by patients about radiation therapy. When is the best time to consider it? What is the best type of radiation therapy to be given? Why can’t we treat all sites of metastatic disease? The question of using radiotherapy will depend on many factors, such as cancer types, biology, …
Melanoma is a tricky disease that often comes back when you least expect it. Just like a sneaky burglar who breaks into your house when you’re not looking, melanoma can hide in your body and then suddenly reappear. That’s exactly what happened to one of my patients, who thought she had beaten the disease years …
I recently saw a patient who is now 8 years in remission from metastatic melanoma. In the beginning of his cancer journey, this young male patient had declined all medical therapy, hoping for a more alternative approach to treating his cancer by modifying his nutrition and taking herbal medicines. At that time, he only wanted …
Recently, I encountered a patient who was also being co-managed by another oncologist at a major hospital institution in the state. The patient had Stage IV Merkel Cell Carcinoma, which is a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer. Prior treatment with a single agent drug called pembro had failed the patient with rapid progressive disease …