Cancer Care
Results you can trust
When you're choosing a hospital for cancer treatment, the question you most want answered is, "How successful is their cancer program?"
Following are personal stories from Ingalls cancer patients:
Monica Evans of Matteson
One of the most troubling aspects of breast cancer for Monica Evans of Matteson wasn't the double mastectomy she was facing. What really bothered her was how she was going to handle the demands of her busy family and career as a high school teacher, while contending with the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy.
"The fact that I was going to lose my breasts was tolerable because I knew that I would be gaining life," Evans, a school teacher and minister, recalls. "I could deal with that, but with everything else that I was facing, I was very concerned about how chemotherapy would make me feel, and how I would be able to meet the demands of my job and my family."
But thanks to the results of a state-of-the-art, individualized test available to women with hormone-sensitive, early-stage breast cancer at Ingalls, Evans was able to avoid chemotherapy and the typical side-effects that usually accompany it, such as hair loss and nausea.
"I was prepared to do chemotherapy if I had to, but the results of the test showed that there was a 92-percent chance that the cancer would not return without taking chemotherapy, that I could take tamoxifen alone," she said. "As a teacher, a score of 92 percent is pretty good, so that's the way I decided to go."
The test that Evans is referring to is the Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Assay, a gene expression assay that is done on the tumor specimen itself. Available at Ingalls, the Oncotype test provides valuable information for breast cancer patients and their doctors to make more informed, individualized treatment decisions. It can help predict the likelihood of cancer recurrence and if chemotherapy would be beneficial in treating the cancer, and is intended for women whose cancer has not spread to lymph nodes, and who have tumors that are sensitive to hormonal therapy.
Approximately half of the 230,000 patients diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States each year fall into this category. And while patients with early breast cancer can derive a significant survival benefit overall with chemotherapy, some women who can do well with surgery and hormone therapy alone may be exposed unnecessarily to chemotherapy, suffering from uncomfortable side effects caused by the treatment and gaining little or no benefit.
That was a big plus for Evans, who was not looking forward to the inevitable hair loss associated with chemotherapy.
"A 92-percent prediction that my cancer won't return without chemotherapy was very reassuring," she added. "The score gave me hope that I could live a long life, cancer-free. As a wife and mother of two sons, that is very important to me."
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Paulette Bannack of Roselle
For breast cancer survivor Paulette Bannack of Roselle, the results of the Oncotype DX breast cancer assay test at Ingalls confirmed that chemotherapy (coupled with radiation and hormone therapy) would be the best course of treatment.
Bannack, who was facing her second bout of breast cancer in nine years, had undergone a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation for early-stage breast cancer of her left breast in 1997. She was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer of the right breast in 2005, although the second cancer was not related to her earlier breast cancer.
This time, however, she was able to make a more informed decision about chemotherapy based on the results of the Oncotype DX test.
"So much has changed in 10 years," she said. "The test results showed that without chemotherapy, there was a very good chance the cancer would return. It was very clear to me what I should do."
Despite experiencing the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy for a second time, Bannack is pleased with the treatment decision she made, based on the results of the Oncotype DX test.
"I think it's a wonderful tool that really helped me make the best decision for my particular type of cancer," she added. "I would highly recommend it for any woman facing a diagnosis like mine."
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John Bresingham of Homer Glen
When he was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer several years ago, Homer Glen attorney, John Bresingham, had a choice to make: surgical removal of the prostate gland - or radiation, including prostate brachytherapy, a relatively new, but highly effective treatment that involves the implantation of tiny radioactive seeds in the prostate gland.
John turned to Ingalls for his care and treatment and successfully received external beam radiation, prostate brachytherapy and hormone therapy. Five years later, John remains cancer-free and highly recommends the treatment regimen for other men facing a similar diagnosis.
"I would highly recommend this procedure to other men facing the same diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer."
In his spare time, John enjoys golf, basketball and tennis. In fact, he was able to continue those activities while he was undergoing treatment.
"I was thrilled that I had an option, and I'm perfectly satisfied with how everything went."
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Sharron Santefort of Dolton
Sharron Santefort is a special education teacher at Andrew High School in Tinley Park who's devoted her entire career to educating others. But in the fall of 2005, Sharron learned a valuable lesson of her own.
"My siblings kept nagging me to get a colonoscopy since I'd never had one," she recalls. "I got tired of their nagging, so I went ahead and scheduled the test."
Unfortunately, the results were not what she expected: advanced colorectal cancer that had spread to the liver.
"I was shocked," she explains. "I had never had any symptoms at all."
Also surprising was her discovery that colorectal cancer ran in the family. Several uncles had battled the disease over the years.
As a veteran teacher, Sharron's used to having the answers. But cancer was a subject she knew very little about. So she quickly learned as much as she possibly could about colorectal cancer and its treatment options. Then she turned to Ingalls.
When Ingalls cancer experts recommended a clinical trial as the best treatment option, Sharron didn't hesitate.
"My goal was to be cured so I was willing to do whatever they said," she said.
Sharron enrolled in a clinical trial at Ingalls in 2005. Despite an ominous diagnosis initially, she beat the odds. Today, Sharron's cancer is in complete remission, and this energetic educator gives nothing but high marks to her cancer doctors and to Ingalls.
"It's wonderful to be able to participate in a major clinical trial so close to home - what an advantage for patients who live in the south suburbs."
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Frank Johnson of Lynwood
For then 35-year-old Frank Johnson of Lynwood, prostate cancer wasn't even on the radar screen.
But a diligent doctor on staff at Ingalls ordered a prostate-specific antigen test (PSA) during a physical examination this past spring, and the shocking diagnosis came back: early-stage prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is extremely rare in men under age 40, affecting only 1 in 10,000 men. However, the rate shoots up to 1 in 38 men for ages 40 to 59, and 1 in 14 for ages 60 to 69, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. In fact, more than 65% of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65.
Johnson's troubles began when he started urinating frequently - even when he hadn't consumed a lot of fluid. At his wife's urging, Johnson made an appointment to see his doctor, Bella Prospero, M.D., a board-certified internal medicine specialist on staff at Ingalls.
"My wife's a nurse and thought I might have diabetes because I was urinating a lot," Johnson explained. "Thankfully, Dr. Prospero decided to screen for prostate cancer too. I was shocked when I was told I had cancer."
Screening for prostate cancer in men under age 40 is very rare. In fact, annual screening for prostate cancer is usually recommended for men age 50 and over. In Johnson's case, it may have been too late, and, in all likelihood, the prostate cancer would have spread.
Two urologists on staff at Ingalls, Dr. Rajesh Patel and his partner, Dr. Rao Uppuluri, removed Johnson's cancerous prostate gland in July 2006 using a nerve-sparing technique. Because it was caught early, it had not spread to other tissue or organs. His prognosis is excellent, although he will need to have PSAs done frequently over the next several years.
"Thankfully, Dr. Patel scheduled a biopsy, because he didn't feel anything during the digital rectal exam," Johnson said. "Sure enough, the results of the biopsy said it was cancer."
"I'm so grateful to Dr. Prospero and Dr. Patel for catching this early," Johnson concluded. "I have three sons, and I plan on making sure that they get prostate cancer screenings done early and often."
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