Page 63 - Healthcare News Sept.-Oct. 2020

Breast
Continued from page 5
month to the fund;
• There’s also the Molly’s Meta-
static Miles for the Cure Run, a vir- tual race being staged in honor of Molly Anderson, who recently lost her battle against breast cancer.
The list goes on ... and on.
And all these efforts are needed, Cassanelli said, because the fight for a cure, while encouraging on many levels, is ongoing, and it will be a long fight — in many respects like the one waged by those with breast cancer.
As she told BusinessWest just a few weeks ago, the pandemic has
Cancer
Continued from page 12
other category of treatment that is advancing. Also known as peptide- receptor radiotherapy (PRRT), it consists of a radioactive particle,
or radionuclide, linked to a pro- tein, and this protein seeks out and targets its intended receptor, which is overexpressed on certain tumor
Education
Continued from page 12
access to healthcare.
This charge became more evident
with the pandemic, as we have seen its profound impact on underrepre-
made such battles even more dif- ficult, for several reasons.
For starters, because of their condition, cancer patients have to be extraordinarily careful about not exposing themselves to the virus. “There was the realization that this virus could kill me,” she told the magazine, noting that, for obvi-
ous reasons, she began working
at home back in March. “And my husband, Craig, had to be careful to make sure he wasn’t bringing any- thing home to me; he would take off his clothes in the garage and run up to the shower every day. He jokes that I would spray Lysol on him before I would let him in the house.”
Meanwhile, as she started that new treatment regimen and under-
cells. Once the protein-receptor binding takes place, the radionu- clide is internalized into the tumor cell — and destroys the tumor cell. This treatment is currently being utilized for neuroendocrine tumors of the abdomen (the type of cancer that afflicted both Steve Jobs and Aretha Franklin), and it is being investigated for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer.
Quality of life is an ongoing focus of cancer care, and while we always
sented minorities. It would be a dis- service to future providers to ignore the current healthcare disparities in these populations. Addressing these determinants is not only important for improving overall health, but also for reducing health disparities that are often rooted in social and
went tests and biopsies, the proto- cols were much different, and she would now have to go to most all of her medical appointments alone.
“And it’s very difficult to travel to Boston every other week by your- self,” she told HCN, adding that this is just another way in which the pandemic has simply added to the long list of challenges that she and others in her shoes are facing as the pandemic drones on, with no relief in sight.
Fighting Spirit
For those fighting the fight, Cas- sanelli had these words of encour- agement:
aim to increase survival, we simul- taneously aim to optimize quality of life for patients under our care. In the realm of radiation treatment, shorter course regimens are more frequently being used (supported by evidence from clinical trials) in order to increase convenience for patients. Such regimens are now commonly used in the treatment of breast cancer, for early-stage lung cancer (as mentioned above), for some brain-tumor patients, and for
economic disadvantages. Healthcare providers of the future
will not necessarily be those who have a traditional classroom educa- tion, but will be those who know how to use, implement, and apply technology in healthcare systems and provide high-quality health-
“Don’t give up! They have new treatments every day — the scien- tists are working really hard. Keep your faith, keep your strength. You can get through it. There is going to be a cure — I firmly believe that. We just have to keep fighting for- ward until they find that cure.”
As for the rest of us, she said
we should take our cue from the Cassanelli household and under- stand that, while there is a month set aside for directing attention to this disease, every month, every day, should be about breast-cancer awareness and research. v
some patients with prostate cancer. For the latter, radioactive seed im- plants into the prostate gland may be an option for a one-visit outpa- tient treatment.
In short, we continue to push forward strongly in the treatment of a broad range of cancers. v
Dr. John Sheldon is medical director, Radiation Oncology at the Mass Gen- eral Cancer Center at Cooley Dickin- son Hospital.
care to all patients. v
Marie Meckel, MS, MPH, MMSc, PA-C;
Kathleen Menard, MS, PA-C; Susan McDiarmid, MS, PA-C; and Theresa Riethle, MS, PA-C are physician as- sistant faculty members at Bay Path University.
HCN INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
BAYSTATE HEALTH........................A13 BEAR MOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE ...A27 BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NETWORK
(BHN) ........................................ 10 BERKSHIRE BANK ........................A33 BERKSHIRE HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS ....
................................................A17 BFAIR-BERKSHIRE FAMILY &
INDIVIDUAL RESOURCES.......... A8 BULKLEY RICHARDSON................A10 COMCAST BUSINESS....................A29 CONCERN EAP .............................. A8 DANI FINE PHOTOGRAPHY...........A30 DESIGN TO FINISH .......................A23
THE DOWD AGENCIES..................A36 EAST LONGMEADOW SKILLED
NURSING CENTER ....................... 8 ELMS COLLEGE...............................A3 ENCOMPASS HEALTH .................. A32 E-S SPORTS CORPORATION..........A14 FLORENCE HEARING ........................ 8 GOLDEN YEARS HOME CARE........A37 HCN 2021 RESOURCE GUIDE ........ 11 HEALTH NEW ENGLAND ................ A2 HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE... A6 HOLYOKE GAS & ELECTRIC ............ A6 HOLYOKE MEDICAL CENTER.......... A7 HOULE CONSTRUCTION, INC........A12
JGS LIFECARE...............................A25 KEITER BUILDERS.........................A20 THE LATHROP HOME....................... 9 MERCY CENTER FOR BREAST HEALTH
AND GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY.. 2 MERCY MEDICAL CENTER / TRINITY
HEALTH OF NEW ENGLAND............ ..........................A23, BACK COVER MEYERS BROTHERS KALICKA, P.C.A22
NEW ENGLAND DERMATOLOGY & LASER CENTER............................. 9 NICEBOX/PALMER PAVING...........A35 O’CONNELL CARE AT HOME ........ A27
ON CALL HEALTHY LIVING PROGRAM .................................................. 10
PEOPLESBANK ................................ 5 POLISH NATIONAL CREDIT UNION . A9 RIVER VALLEY COUNSELING CENTER...
............................................ 5, A10 SHERATON SPRINGFIELD, MONARCH
PLACE..................................... A15 SKOLER ABBOTT .......................... A36 VIABILITY......................................A38 VISITING ANGELS .........................A32 WESTFIELD STATE UNIVERSITY ........ 4 WESTMASS ELDERCARE .............. A25
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM
23