Key points from today’s guests:
Morning Rounds – Updates on Current News
Dr. Gary Doolittle, medical oncologist, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- TIL (Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocyte) therapy has just been approved by the FDA.
- It’s a new cellular approach to the treatment of cancer that removes the tumor, takes away some of your lymphocytes, we harvest them, we grow them in the lab, we reprogram them, we give them back to you and they try to kill the cancer cells.
- We can expect 40-50 percent of patients to have a good response.
- About two thirds of patients with melanoma are cured.
- This is just one step in progressing toward new technologies that provide better cancer treatments.
- Melanoma was a natural place to start because it tends to be a disease that is sensitive to the immune response.
- We know from immunotherapy and the other disease types, many solid tumors respond to immunotherapeutic agents. And if that's the case, then we would anticipate they would respond to cellular immunotherapy approaches.
Focus Topic
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, The University of Kansas Health System
- If a man lives long enough, odds are they'll get prostate cancer. I'm one of those guys.
- Many men do end up needing surgery or radiation and if the cancer is slow growing, it may not need treatment at all.
- And then there are challenging cases where the prostate cancer has metastatic meaning it has spread to other parts of the body.
- More and more drugs are improving and extending the lives of cancer patients.
- One of those new drugs is making a difference in the fight against prostate cancer.
- It's compared to a heat seeking missile they can search and destroy prostate cancer cells wherever they are in the body.
Dr. Elizabeth Wulff-Burchfield, medical oncologist, medical director of Palliative and Geriatric Oncology Services, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- Most cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed when patients are in their 60s, but I have patients who have been diagnosed in their 50s, 40s and even 30s.
- Some get prostate cancer as part of an inherited cancer syndrome and sometimes genes are not a factor. But it's really important to do enhanced screening for anyone who has a family member with a history of prostate, breast, ovarian or pancreatic cancer.
- When prostate cancer is localized, it sometimes doesn't need any treatment, it can just be observed closely by a neurologist.
- But if it needs treatment, that can take the form of radical prostatectomy radiation.
- A new drug delivers a radioactive particle directly to the cancer cells as part of a “seek and destroy” mission.
- With any new cancer therapy, we offer it to the folks who need it the most first and as people who already have advanced disease.
- It is not a cure yet, but radiopharmaceuticals are the way of the future.
COVID Updates
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- The COVID count for the Health System is at 15, which is lower than the number last week.
- Other respiratory viruses are still out there and that season typically goes until about April
- Hospital data shows an overall decrease in respiratory disease admissions (RSV, influenza, COVID).
- Vaccines for children for diseases like measles continue to be important as they have been proven to be safe and effective.
Friday, Mar. 1 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Hear more about how our state of mind and soul affects our bodies inside and out. We’ll dive deeper into the power of positive thinking, meditation, and breathing.
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