Published in The Woman Today magazine, December 2015
Fighting cancer with hearts and minds: A unique approach at St. Luke's
Regional Cancer Center
1 in 3 women. 1 in 2 men. According to data from the National Cancer Institute,
those are the odds for someone to develop cancer in her or his lifetime.
Dr. Nils Arvold, a radiation oncologist at St. Luke’s Regional Cancer
Center, says that in addition to cancer’s pervasiveness in our society,
the disease holds a certain level of fascination for people. “With
cancer, your own body is generating rogue cells that don’t stop
growing and can cause your body to stop working altogether,” said
Dr. Arvold, a former Harvard Medical School/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
faculty member and Duluth native. “Your body loses the ability to
stop the growth and spread of cancer cells. That makes cancer a really
personal—and oftentimes frightening—disease.”
Like many oncologists, Dr. Arvold was drawn initially to the science of
treating cancer. But for him, the personal bond with patients added a
human dimension to the disease. “During my medical training, I was
struck by the level of connection that oncologists had with their patients.
The people I saw with cancer diagnoses often went through intense physical
and emotional experiences, and both the patients and their physicians
seemed incredibly invested in the outcome. I knew right away that I wanted
to be a part of those conversations.”
Compassion + Intellect = An optimal approach to cancer care.
The best cancer doctors are the ones with the best minds and the best hearts,
says Dr. Basem Goueli, medical director of St. Luke’s Regional Cancer
Center. “When you’ve worked your fourth 20-hour day in a row,
and your mind doesn’t know the answer, it’s the heart that
compels your mind to go find it no matter how exhausted you are.”
That unique melding of hearts and minds is the standard that Dr. Goueli,
a Stanford-trained oncologist, says will define the future of cancer care.
“Cancer therapy is no longer a one size fits all entity, as it is
becoming increasingly individualized, and predicated on understanding
the patient and the specific nuances of their cancer. At St. Luke’s,
we are working with leading pharmaceutical companies and our own Whiteside
Institute for Clinical Research to implement treatments that are based
on identifying individual gene mutations and proteins in a patient’s
specific cancer. We are rapidly improving our ability to understand and
attack cancer at a molecular level with directed therapies that more specifically
target cancer cells, and spare normal ones”.
It takes a team
Since his arrival at St. Luke’s in 2012, Dr. Goueli has been recruiting
top physicians from leading programs around the country to St. Luke’s
Regional Cancer Center. “We have assembled a diverse team of radiation
and medical oncologists that have brought different cancer treatment approaches
from world renowned cancer centers to northern Minnesota”.
Dr. Anne Silva-Benedict is one of those physicians. Dr. Silva-Benedict’s
training began on the East Coast and culminated with a fellowship at the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington, before she arrived
in Duluth in 2013. For her, the connection to cancer was personal. “My
mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 17, and that experience
really shaped my interest in oncology,” she said. “Cancer
is always changing, so for me, the question is, ‘How do we outsmart
cancer?’ I spent the first part of my career in research, but over
time, as I spent more time with patients, I knew I didn’t want to
just be in a lab all the time.”
The first step in effective treatment, says Dr. Silva-Benedict, is to be
a good listener. “Every patient is different, so it’s important
to be empathetic and help them understand their diagnosis. At St. Luke’s,
we also have a clinical psychologist on staff to help patients and their
families process and prepare for the road ahead.” Other physicians
on the St. Luke’s Regional Cancer Center team includes: Homam Alkaied,
MD, oncologist; Steven Bonin, MD, radiation oncologist; and Mikhail Perlov,
MD, oncologist.
Clinical trials and the role of research
For many cancers, new pharmaceutical treatments hold the most promise.
“Clinical trials are the key,” says Dr. Silva-Benedict, “and
we have built a program that attracts some of the best and most promising
clinical trials.”
Dr. Goueli concurs. “The future of cancer care will be shaped by
clinical trials,” he says. “With the Whiteside Institute for
Clinical Research, we are fortunate to have a dedicated research program
that allows us to run clinical trials that would normally only be available
at much larger institutions in more urban areas. You cannot give optimal
care or therapy without these clinical trials, and St. Luke’s has
a phenomenal clinical research program that is unprecedented for a hospital
its size, and is arguably the best in northern Minnesota.”
A culture of caring
In the ongoing fight against cancer, it takes everything—the best
of the heart and the best of the mind—to prevail, says Dr. Goueli.
“At St. Luke’s Regional Cancer Center, we have intentionally
built a culture where care providers and patients alike feel beloved.
We are adamant that our patients receive the same level of care at St.
Luke’s that they would at Stanford, Mayo, Harvard, Johns Hopkins,
etc. We treat patients like we would our family members, and that’s
not rhetoric. If it’s not good enough for our family members, it’s
not good enough for our patients”.
Three ways to minimize your cancer risk
Some cancers are preventable and others may be caught at an earlier and
more curable stage through screening studies, says Dr. Nils Arvold, radiation
oncologist at St. Luke’s. To that end, here are three things he
recommends to minimize your cancer risks.
1. Stop smoking
“The biggest personal lifestyle change someone can make to reduce
their risk of several cancers is to stop smoking. Completely stopping
is best, but even cutting back is better than no change at all.”
2. Discuss screening studies with your primary care doctor
“Breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancers are among the most common
cancers, and sometimes can be caught in early stages through screening
tests. There are a number of ongoing controversies regarding who should
undergo screening and at what age to derive the most benefit, so it is
vital to see your primary care doctor to discuss which screening studies
are most appropriate for you.”
3. Know your family history
“Several cancers, including breast, prostate, colon, and ovarian
cancers, can be familial. Make sure you and your physician are aware of
your family’s history with cancer, as it can affect your own cancer
risk and change recommendations for you, including what age to start undergoing
screening evaluations.”
BELOW: St. Luke's Regional Cancer Center's team: Dr. Basem Goueli,
oncologist and medical director; Dr. Homam Alkaied, oncologist; Dr. Anne
Silva-Benedict, oncologist; Dr. Steven Bonin, radiation oncologist; Dr.
Mikhail Perlov, oncologist; Dr. Nils Arvold, radiation oncologist