Key points from today’s guests:

Anne Holzbeierlein, acute myeloid leukemia survivor

• Anne was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2013 after feeling weak at work and getting a blood test.
• She underwent 35 days of chemotherapy and then was presented with the option of participating in one of two clinical trials.
• One was a stem cell transplant with a family member, even though that family member was not a direct match.
• Her son, who is a doctor at The University of Kansas Health System, became her donor.
• Her recovery was pretty long – three weeks in the hospital and she needed to stay near the hospital for 100 days following the transplant – but she's cancer free, and is statistically extremely unlikely to ever deal with that cancer again.
• She said having a medical team that you have full trust in is really important. And she believes in the value of clinical trials.

Dr. Joseph McGuirk, D.O., director, hematologic malignancies & cellular therapeutics; hematologist & medical oncologist, The University of Kansas Cancer Center

• This is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults, and is a cancer of bone marrow stem cells.
• For adults, a stem cell transplant after chemotherapy is the most powerful way of curing this disease and it is a curable disease in patients if we can get them to transplant.
• There are significant risks associated with bone marrow transplantation -- we destroy a patient's immune system with radiation and chemotherapy in combination oftentimes.
• When you look at the risk of transplant versus virtually 100 percent that we're going to lose them to the leukemia, it becomes somewhat more acceptable to accept those risks since it is worth the potential benefit of being cured of this disease.
• Clinical trials are becoming more of a first line of defense.

Dr. Jeffrey Holzbeierlein, M.D., physician-in-chief, The University of Kansas Cancer Center; Anne’s son

• He had the bone marrow aspirate from his hips, which required a general anesthetic, but he was able to get back to work the next day.
• This experience was a new perspective for him because he went from the doctor to a patient.
• He said the one thing that doesn't probably get enough credit is how incredible the team that's been assembled is -- from the very beginning to the very end, the amount of support and education of patients and family members is incredible.
• Many people may not be aware that they're eligible for a clinical trial, so it starts with educating our patients about the value of clinical trials.

COVID Update

• This week, the COVID count is at 16 active inpatients, down from 23 active inpatients last week.

Wednesday, January 24 at 8 a.m. is the next Open Mics with Dr. Stites. People of all ages can get interstitial lung disease (ILD), even children. We explore the causes, the treatments and the symptoms. Thanks to new research and developments, people are living much longer, fuller lives with ILD.

ATTENTION MEDIA: Please note access is with Microsoft Teams:

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 235 659 792 451
Passcode: 6CSfGE

Download Teams | Join on the web

Or call in (audio only)

+1 913-318-8863,566341546#   United States, Kansas City

TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI

Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital

YouTube.com/kuhospital

Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.