Page 16 - SFHN JAN 2022

ONCOLOGY UPDATE
Pediatric Specialists
Now in Doral
The most advanced pediatric
specialty care is now in the heart of
Doral, just across from CityPlace.
KIDZ Medical, a multispecialty
pediatric practice, can provide
your children with state-of-the-art
medical care and you, the parent, with peace of
mind. Our medical team can see your kids for cardiology,
nephrology, gastroenterology, pulmonary medicine,
travel medicine and much more.
Medical Staff in Doral:
Abdulwahab Aldousany, MD - Pediatric Cardiology
Mariselis Rosa-Sanchez, MD - Pediatric Nephrology
Sheila Perez-Colon, MD - Pediatric Endocrinologist
Kunjana Mavunda, MD - Pediatric Pulmonology &
Travel Medicine
Mario Tano, MD - Pediatric Gastroenterology
Aymin Delgado-Borrego, MD - Pediatric Gastroenterology
Neeraj Raghunath, MD - Pediatric Gastroenterology
If you would like to discuss your child’s care, please
contact Isabel Viera Gonzalez, Office Manager.
K K I I Z Z
Medical
Providing care to infants, children
and moms since 1988
3785 NW 82nd Ave, Suite 307, Doral, FL 33166, 305-556-4263
16 January 2022
A Powerful Weapon
in the Battle Against
Blood Cancers
A new form of immuno - lymphoma, Mantle cell lym-
therapy now available in phoma, Follicular lym-
Broward County is helping phoma, Transformed follic-
blood cancer patients battle ular lymphoma, and
their disease and, in some Primary mediastinal B cell
cases, do it without some of lymphoma with different
the most serious side effects CAR-T cell products. In
associated with chemothera- 2022, we are looking to
py. Based on evidence from expand the CAR-T cell ther-
pivotal, clinical trials in apy services to patients with
which colleagues at H. Lee multiple myeloma and offer
Moffitt Cancer Center par- CAR-T clinical trials in part-
ticipated and from what BY JOSE SANDOVAL- nership with Moffitt.
we’ve seen since Chimeric SUS, MD,FACP
Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Broward County
First Patient in
Cell Therapy was FDA approved for wide-
spread use, the treatment is a game-chang- The best news is the dramatic effect the
er for patients with B-cell acute lym- immunotherapy has had for our patients.
phoblastic leukemia, aggressive B-cell
Leticia Lopez, a former Plantation resident
non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and multiple now living in Henderson, Nevada, had
myeloma patients that have relapsed after struggled with Diffuse Large B cell lym-
multiple lines of conventional treatments. phoma since 2007. Multiple rounds of
CAR-T therapy involves harvesting a chemotherapy, radiation and even autolo-
patient’s T cells from blood and genetically gous stem cell transplant would keep the
altering them to produce synthetic mole- disease at bay for periods during the last
cules on the surface of these cells called decade and half, only to have it return
chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) that each time. Last June, she returned to
better equip them to fight these cancers. South Florida for a pet scan to confirm
The modified cells are introduced to the what she already suspected: the unrelent-
body through a blood transfusion, with ing feeling that something was stuck in
the CARs enabling the T cells to recognize her throat was indeed the return of cancer.
and attach to a specific protein in the It was then, at 74-years-old, Leticia
membrane of tumor cells and kill them decided she would live out her remaining
while minimizing damage to healthy cells. days as best as could, unwilling to subject
We’ve traditionally treated blood can- herself to the side effects and collateral
cers with chemotherapy and antibodies damage additional, extended rounds of
and while those are still important pieces chemotherapy would cause.
of the puzzle, having this new treatment
option is important for several reasons. In Favorable Prognosis
addition to being less toxic than some of Timing, however, was finally on Leticia’s
the aggressive treatments used to cure side. CAR-T cell therapy had recently been
blood cancer in patients that have relapsed approved and she was a candidate we
(i.e. stem cell transplantation), it can be thought would benefit from the approach.
effective in cases where the patient’s body In late September Leticia chose to undergo
no longer responds to classic chemothera- the procedure, having her blood drawn so
py drug combinations. that the T cells could be reengineered and
In those situations, picture the cancer then reintroduced into her body with the
cells being bulletproof to traditional weaponry to successfully attack cancer
chemotherapy, enabling them to continue cells. I’m excited to report that the tumor
to reproduce. These cancers can also hide near the base of Leticia’s neck is gone and
from the patient’s immune system (i.e. within recent weeks she reported feeling
normal T-cell), which would normally get “like nothing had happened.” Two subse-
rid of these abnormal cells. But now we’ve quent scans were clean, showing no signs
introduced CAR-T and the tumor cells of the disease. Our girl is cancer-free, and
with tremendous optimism that this time
haven’t yet figured out this new opponent,
so they’re not able to camouflage from it’s for good!
CAR-T cell therapy changed the trajec-
them. In the best-case scenario, the cancer
tory of Leticia’s life and we’re seeing it have
cells are powerless to prevent the attach-
similar results for other patients as well.
ment, especially since the CAR-T cells
bring the rest of the immune system with
If you or someone you know has one of
them to the battle.
to learn more about this new form of
the blood cancers listed above, I urge you
Strategic Partnership immunotherapy by calling (954) 265-
Much of what we’re accomplishing
locally is the result of an alliance formed in 4325 or visiting our website at https://mof-
fitt.org/treatments/immunotherapy/cellu-
2017 between the Tampa-based H. Lee
lar-immunotherapy/car-t-therapy/ to begin
Moffitt Cancer Center and South Florida’s the process of determining whether CAR-
Memorial Healthcare System. At that time, T may be a treatment option.
the two healthcare organizations created a
malignant hematology & cellular therapy Dr. Jose Sandoval-Sus is fellowship-
program on the campus of Memorial trained in oncology and hematology and a
Hospital West in Pembroke Pines. Today, it specialist at the Moffitt Malignant
is the is the only facility in Broward and Hematology and Cellular Therapy program
Palm Beach counties currently offering established in partnership with Memorial
CAR-T as a treatment for Acute lym- Healthcare System.
phoblastic leukemia, Diffuse large B-cell
southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News