Page 20 - Janaury 2018

ONCOLOGY UPDATE in South Florida ...ONCOLOGY UPDATE in South Florida

Innovator in Cancer Care:

Spotlight on Zdenka Ena Segota, M.D., of Holy Cross Hospital

Dr. Zdenka Ena Segota is a medical patients who qualify as an addition to Q: What is unique about
oncologist at Holy Cross Hospital with standard-of-care treatments or when Holy Cross Hospital’s clinical
more than 20 years of experience. In standard-of-care options have been
addition to providing patients with stan- exhausted, including Phase I or Phase II research department?
dard-of-care oncology treatment, she clinical trials matched to the patients’ A: Not all regional hospitals are able to
also specializes in research and clinical particular condition through the offer research options to patients locally.
trials, helping Holy Cross to be at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Holy Cross is unique in being able to offer
forefront of innovations in cancer care. Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. leading-edge care to patients without the
need for travel.
Q: Tell us about your role Q: Can you share exam- Specifically, Holy Cross has been desig-
at Holy Cross and your ples of the clinical research nated as an ECOG-ACRIN site, which sented in clinical trials. Hospital leaders
background in medicine. in which you are partici- means we are members of a consortium and physicians presented to community
group of research institutions and can par-
groups and talked to members about the
A: I am a medical oncologist who sub- ticipate in trials at any phase for just one benefits of clinical trials, ethics standards
specializes in breast and gynecological pating? patient if that trial is the best option for in place, and other educational factors.
malignancies. Prior to joining Holy A: In general, the cancer research that patient. Our goal is to develop trust in communi-
Cross, I completed a research fellowship department at Holy Cross offers all phases As an ECOG-ACRIN site, we give our ties that are historically underserved and
in experimental therapeutics at the of trials, including early Phase I trials, patients more options. We also have a col- wary of institutions in general.
Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s Taussig which opens up more options for patients laboration with Massachusetts General The Community Foundation of
Cancer Center in Cleveland, as well as who have exhausted all standards of care. Hospital, the teaching hospital of Harvard Broward County also gave Holy Cross a
another fellowship in hematology and For breast cancer, we are focused on University, which allows patients even $120,000 grant to support our clinical
medical oncology at the same institution. researching options to improve pre-surgi- greater access to clinical trials, as well as trial collaboration with Mass General
cal and post-surgical outcomes and to timely second opinions and coordination
improve the metastatic cancer survival and cover expenses in trials that aren’t
Q: Do you specialize in a of care. sponsored, which allows us to bring
rate. For example, FELINE is a Phase II
particular cancer treatment? clinical trial studying whether two drugs additional cancer studies to Holy Cross.
A: Yes, I am focused on offering my combined can effectively shrink a tumor Q: How do Holy Cross Overall, Holy Cross is committed to
patients precision medicine through before surgery to give patients the option Hospital’s research initia- furthering research in all of our practice
genomic testing. We are able to offer it to of a lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy. tives affect the community? areas and offering patients the latest
all patients when appropriate, even if it’s The EARLEE trial is a Phase III clinical studies available in the fields of cardio-
not covered by insurance, thanks to a trial studying the effects of a combination A: We received a $30,000 grant from vascular, orthopedic, pain management
$50,000 grant from the Community of two non-chemotherapy drugs (hor- the Community Foundation of Broward and neuroscience, in addition to cancer,
Foundation of Broward County. mone and CDK4/6 inhibitor) to reduce the to increase diversity outreach to help so that our patients can receive leading-
Targeted therapies are offered to all probability of breast cancer reoccurrence. ensure that minorities will be well repre- edge treatment right here at home.

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20 January 2018 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News