From OHC
October 12, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joanie Manzo
Director, OHC Marketing & Physician Services
513-751-2273 EXT. 10143
joan.manzo@usoncology.com
Breast cancer is no longer the most common cancer for women in the United States. This is due to decades of efforts like Breast Cancer Awareness Month that have increased awareness of the benefits of breast cancer screenings and self-exams, which lead to early detection when the response to treatments is better.
Even with these improvements, not all patients’ breast cancer is detected early and not all breast cancer responds to current treatments. For these patients, more options are needed to treat their breast cancer and restore hope for a cure.
OHC is working diligently to offer patients advanced treatment options as well as access to new, promising treatments that are not yet available to the public. OHC does this through their nationally recognized clinical trials program. The OHC researchers are seeing significant results through the program.
For example, last year, OHC shared the story of patient Madeline Gillotte who was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease. Patrick J. Ward, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, hematologist and co-director of research at OHC met with Madeline and told her about the clinical trial, called KEYNOTE 522. This trial is evaluating the immunotherapy drug, Keytruda, with chemotherapy for triple negative breast cancer. She enrolled in the trial and two years later, Madeline continues to do well without any signs of her cancer returning. The overall results continue to look promising, and because of this trial, this new treatment regimen has been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval.
Another example is the breast cancer clinical trial in which OHC is evaluating the drug, pemigatinib. This drug is designed specifically to block fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFR). These are mutations that cause cancer to grow and spread. Pemigatinib has demonstrated success in other cancers with the FGFR mutation. Therefore, OHC breast cancer experts are evaluating the drug because it looks to be promising for patients with advanced metastatic breast cancer that hasn’t responded to other treatments or is inoperable.
OHC is attacking all cancer by providing patients with multiple options for treatment. This includes the new cellular therapy approach, immunotherapy, and CAR-T therapy. To learn more about treatments for breast and other cancers at OHC, or to request a second opinion, visit ohcare.com or call 1-888-649-4800.
