To provide the information your oncologist is not telling you or doesn't have the time to!
As a physician, it is important to communicate complex medical concepts in a way that is easy to understand for patients. When patients are diagnosed and are undergoing treatment a common question I get is “how do we know the treatment is working”? My crystal ball does not work very well, and I tell my …
Metastatic gastric cancer, also known as stage IV gastric cancer, is a serious and advanced form of the disease in which the cancer has spread beyond the stomach to other parts of the body. The current standard of care for patients with metastatic gastric cancer includes chemotherapy, Her2 targeted therapy and immunotherapy. However, there remains …
KRAS is a gene that plays a key role in the growth and division of cells. Mutations in the KRAS gene can cause cancer, and one particular mutation called KRAS G12C occurs in about 1-2% of pancreatic cancers and 2-4% of colon cancers. These mutations make the cancer resistant to certain treatment options and are …
As a physician, the most important things I can do for all my patients is to provide them with the best possible care. For most of my patients, I am the captain of the ship and I have a whole team of specialized physicians (surgical oncologist, radiation oncologist, interventional radiologist, pathologist, gastroenterologist, nuclear med etc), …
As a physician, one of the most challenging types of cancer to treat is locally advanced rectal cancer. These tumors have often grown to the point where surgery alone is not enough to remove all of the cancer and prevent recurrence. That’s why the standard of care for these patients is a treatment approach called …
As a newly diagnosed cancer patient, the thought of treatment can be overwhelming. It’s important to understand the different options available to you so that you can make informed decisions about your care. Here’s a quick rundown of the most common types of cancer treatment: Surgery: Surgery is a procedure in which a doctor removes …
Prognosis is a medical term that refers to the expected outcome of a disease, such as cancer. It’s a way for doctors to estimate how the disease may progress and what treatment options may be most effective. It’s important to understand that a prognosis is not a definite outcome. It’s an estimate based on many …
Cancer is a scary and overwhelming diagnosis, and one of the first steps in the treatment process is staging. Staging is the process of determining how much cancer is in a person’s body and where it is located. It helps doctors determine the best treatment options for each patient, and can also be used to …
When a lump or bump is found on a physical exam or a tumor/nodule/lesion is seen on imaging, it can be concerning. But how do we know for sure if it’s a malignant tumor vs a benign tumor? The answer is a biopsy. A biopsy is a procedure in which a small piece of the …
As a physician, I often hear the fear and uncertainty in my patients’ voices when they are first diagnosed with melanoma. It’s a serious and often deadly form of skin cancer, and it can be difficult to know where to turn for help. But I want my patients to know that there is hope, and …