When Your First Hope is Your Best Chance

In 2007 Mary Alice Shatkus had to answer one of life’s most difficult questions:  How will I combat my cancer? What was most important to her was to get the best possible care immediately following the diagnosis. She understood that curing cancer can become more difficult, at times impossible, if early treatments are ineffective.

For Mary Alice, the answer to the difficult question was Loyola’s Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center.

“Cancer is unique in that your first treatment is not only the best chance but unfortunately usually the only chance for cure,” said Patrick Stiff, MD, ABIM, Coleman Professor of Oncology, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, division director, hematology/oncology, and the medical director of Loyola’s Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center. “Where this first therapy is administered may strongly influence your chances of cure. So if I were a cancer patient, I’d want the best care first, not last.  Unfortunately too often we see patients for the first time once they have exhausted standard therapies given elsewhere.”

Over the past 10 to 15 years, cancer care at teaching hospitals such as Loyola has evolved often more rapidly than at community hospitals. At academic centers, patients are more likely to be treated by “super” specialists, or those that focus on a single tumor type, for example breast or lung cancer but not both.

Patients today should seek subspecialists who focus exclusively on the nuances of their type of cancer, whether it’s a brain tumor, lung cancer, leukemia or lymphoma or, in Mary Alice’s case, breast cancer.

“I had read about how far treatments for breast cancer had come recently,”  explained Mary Alice of Palos Heights. “I also knew someone who had gone to Loyola for breast cancer and had a very positive experience.”

The Loyola health-care team nurtures the cancer patient and reduces her hassles and anxieties, which often makes the journey more successful. Personal attention at Loyola also means that a team of physicians and nurses is working together, battling for you right from the start.

“Cancer is a devastating diagnosis, so having a complete multi-disciplinary team is essential to your well being, your attitude and recovery, and your image,” said Barbara Buturusis, executive director of Loyola’s cancer service line.

“Loyola was an early adopter of the multi-disciplinary approach,” Dr. Stiff said. “I believe we have the most disciplined and far-reaching multi-disciplinary approach of any cancer center in Chicago. We use it for breast, head and neck, lung, brain and gastrointestinal malignancies, and we’re developing a new multi-disciplinary program for sarcomas.”

In August 2007 Mary Alice brought her mammogram films and diagnostic reports to Loyola. Experts in breast cancer surgery, pathology, medical oncology (management of chemotherapies and other medications) and radiation treatment gathered to review her materials and discuss her options. After developing her personalized treatment plan, the core team who would care for Mary Alice for the next year, met with her.

“I was very pleased with the team approach,” Mary Alice said. “They totally gave all their attention to me; first, one at a time, then as an entire group. I felt like the surgery, the chemo and the radiation were all connected. I knew something about what was ahead. This diagnosis was such a big thing and so scary, but they were very nurturing, which was very important to me.”

During her surgery in late August, and from the pathology report that followed, Mary Alice’s team discovered that the cancer was quite aggressive and that she would need aggressive medical treatment to fight it. “When they told me that, I was devastated but glad I was at Loyola.”

Newly diagnosed patients like Mary Alice may be best served by participating in a clinical trial. Patients in cancer studies receive either the best standard of care or a treatment that is potentially better. “About four percent of cancer patients treated at community hospitals enter clinical trials. At Loyola it’s close to 30 percent,” Dr. Stiff said. “We believe patients who enter clinical trials have better outcomes, and data would suggest that’s true.”

Mary Alice enrolled in a study best suited for her condition, spending three or four hours once a week at Loyola’s chemotherapy clinic. “My care was excellent. The nurses were very caring, efficient and pleasant. They do a great job, and it’s the busiest place I’ve ever seen.”

After a second round of chemotherapy, followed by six weeks of radiation therapy, Mary Alice completed her treatment journey on June 27, 2008. While most patients would see their physicians every six months for follow-up exams, Mary Alice will return every three months because of her participation in the clinical trial.

She has returned to her active life, spending time with her children, grandchildren and friends, working part-time, reading, taking photographs and making scrapbooks. She’s heeding the advice she received during a brief visit with a Loyola chaplain.

“I was halfway through my last chemo session,” Mary Alice remembered, “when Father Chris introduced himself. We talked for a while, and he was very encouraging. Then he took out a plain piece of paper and sketched his hand. He said, ‘It’s all about balance in life, about the relationships between mind, body and spirit.’

“It was one visit from him, but that visit meant a lot to me. His timing was perfect.  I took that piece of paper home, framed it and put it on my dresser. It helps me stay positive and keep balance in my life – mind, body and spirit. It’s really worked well for me.”

For more information on how Loyola fights to cure patients’ cancers, or to schedule an appointment, please call (888) LUHS-888 and ask for CAN-HELP Cancer Information Service.

Weekly Conference -- Unique Approach to Cancer Care

Every week, Loyola’s Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center receives mammography films and pathology for five to 10 newly diagnosed patients, such as Mary Alice Shatkus.  Every Friday, case reports for the new patients are ready for review by nearly 25 specialists – surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, cancer nurses and other staff members. It’s time to begin Loyola’s Friday Breast Cancer Conference.

With mammography images projected on a large screen, the specialists analyze each picture, as they pore over the corresponding case report. What follows is an honest and candid exchange of ideas from 25 experts. Ultimately, the multi-disciplinary team creates the treatment plan most likely to beat the cancer.

Later that day, a smaller group of specialists who comprise the patient’s core treatment team, meets with her and outlines the full journey ahead. They discuss her eligibility for one of the many research studies available at Loyola. They answer her questions. They comfort her and provide assurance that they’ll be by her side throughout the fight.

Why does Loyola invest so many experts’ time into the care of newly diagnosed patients? Because the patient’s chances for survival increase significantly, when breast cancer specialists from every aspect of treatment combine their talents and energy. It’s why they want to work at Loyola’s Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center. And it may be why cancer survivors like Mary Alice continue to beat the disease.