Doctors, community gather to talk cancer
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on October 10, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Donna Edmondson waits to give a rose to a cancer survivor before the Cancer Doesn't Discriminate event held Thursday night in front of Wayne Memorial Hospital. The event, in its second year, is designed to inform the community about preventive measures and treatment options for breast and prostate cancers.
Cancer doesn't discriminate -- not by age, race or gender.
The message was clear for the nearly 150 who gathered on the front lawn of Wayne Memorial Hospital.
A team of local medical experts focused their attention on two of the more prevalent cancers affecting men and women of Wayne County, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
They are topics that most people don't know a lot about, said Dr. James Atkins of Southeastern Medical Oncology Center.
The oncologist led the charge to offer the public the chance to become better-educated, while shining a light on the advances that have been introduced locally -- including digital mammography and radiation therapy.
"Before many of the other hospitals had (digital mammography), we had it here in Wayne County. Because of their commitment to breast cancer patients, the radiologists and the hospital also went together and put in breast MRIs," he said.
Three local surgeons were also on the forefront of looking at better ways to do breast cancer surgery, Atkins said -- Doctors Gilbert Garcia, Leon Stockton and Krishan Prasad, all of Eastern Carolina Surgical Associates. They were part of a study by NSABP, the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, which studied the way breast cancer was treated and prevented.
"They were the only three doctors in eastern North Carolina that were part of that study and that were credentialized by NSABP and they were all here in Goldsboro," Atkins said, adding that they continue to be on the "cutting edge" in their commitment to breast cancer patients.
It is very important for women to do monthly self-exams and yearly mammograms, he said, and now it is recommended that women also know the PSA value, which stands for prostate specific antigen.
"Some people will say, 'Well, why should women know a PSA value?' Well, it's because you're married, probably, and you've got a husband or you've got a brother or you've got a son," he said. "You've got somebody in your family and men are not the best when it comes to getting and knowing what their PSA values are."
Even though Wayne County, and eastern North Carolina, is part of the "prostate cancer belt," much progress has been made in treating the disease. In recent years, more drugs have been introduced and even more are expected in the future, Atkins said.
Despite that, he said an estimated 40,000 men die of prostate cancer every year. Another 40,000 women succumb to breast cancer. But the survivor rate is also growing.
"Right now it's estimated that 14.5 million people in America are cancer survivors so the numbers are phenomenal," Atkins said. "And by the year 2020, it's estimated to be 19 million so there's a lot of people in this country who've been touched by cancer and who continue to do well."
Dr. I-Wen Chang, also an oncologist at SMOC, also provided hope for survivorship.
"A lot of what we do as medical oncologists is not only offer treatments to put cancer in remission, but we also offer surveillance for cancer recurrence and we also see you on a regular basis to make sure you are actually taking care of yourself because a cancer diagnosis comes with a lot of anxiety and sometimes people forget to take care of themselves," she said.
Dr. Kevin Kerlin, radiation oncologist at Wayne Radiation Oncology Center, said that despite the "grotesque and multifaceted illness" of cancer, those in the profession remain surprisingly optimistic and upbeat.
"Oncology is now bustling with new insights, promising new therapies and fresh challenges," he said. "There's been an explosion in the understanding of the biology of cancer, methods to exploit its weaknesses through targeted therapies. ... If you believe in the mantra that part of living is learning, then we do a lot of learning."
His favorite part of the job, he said, is educating patients.
"There's nothing like a diagnosis of cancer to focus the mind," he said. "After the shock and tears, there is a hunger for information about therapy, side effects and prognosis. Patients and their families are like students who are interested and thirsty and here to learn."
County Commissioner Wayne Aycock exemplified the evening's theme, "Cancer does not discriminate." He was among the one percent of males diagnosed with breast cancer.
Sisters Joyce Parks, 71, and Geraldine Brown, 72, were also breast cancer survivors.
"She had surgery in 1991," Mrs. Brown said, turning to her sibling, "You were 48 years old. And I had it in 1992, the next year, and I was 49."
"And I had it in the other breast in 2006, at age 63," Mrs. Parks said. "It was the size of a straight pin point."
Their mother, now 95, had breast cancer in 1984 and melanoma in 1990.
The sisters said they are now "doing great" and are cancer free. They get regular check-ups and enjoy events like the one at the hospital, where they can support others going through it and share their own journey.