Monday Morning Medical Update: A “Miracle Case” in Stomach Cancer Treatment

The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 38 COVID patients today, down from 42 Friday. Other significant numbers:

26 with the active virus today, up from 21 Friday
1 in ICU, down from 4 Friday
1 on a ventilator, up from 0 Friday
12 hospitalized but out of acute infection phase, down from 21 Friday

Key points from today’s guests:

Austin Hill, stomach cancer patient
Diagnosed with a rare stage 4 stomach cancer four years ago -- right before he turned 30.
The University of Kansas Cancer Center doctors recommended a new immunotherapy treatment that worked.
His family and faith helped him get through the treatment and recovery.
Proud that his doctors really invested in his health and family, and even though he wasn't a candidate for the high tech treatment at first, they continued to advocate for him.
Continue to be your own advocate and recognize when your body doesn't feel right.
Women are much better at this than men, but stop putting things off. If you don't feel right, get it checked out. You might be afraid of the answer, but it's much better to get that answer early on than later on.

Dr. Mazin Al-Kasspooles, surgical oncologist, The University of Kansas Health System
Gastric cancer is a very aggressive cancer -- it's a more life threatening cancer.
So when somebody has stage four stomach cancer, we find that it's almost miraculous to save somebody and have no evidence of disease. And that's why it's unique in his case.
Austin had a special treatment called HIPEC. It stands for Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy and basically that just means heated chemotherapy that's given within the abdomen for a certain amount of time.

Dr. Weijing Sun, gastrointestinal oncologist, The University of Kansas Health System
His case was very unusual and with today’s advanced technology, we were able to use targeted treatment.
There is no endoscopy-like routine screening for stomach cancer. So if you have early signs of stomach upset and have not responded to medications for reflux symptoms, you need to pay more attention to them and let your doctor know.
Make sure you go to your primary care doctor and really push them to listen. It can lead to an endoscopy that can lead to early diagnosis.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
We know the morbidity and mortality that RSV can cause both in infants, but also in older age adults as well.
Giving the vaccine to pregnant mothers allows them to develop an immune response, most notably antibodies, and those will transfer to baby to give that baby protection for about six months.
Early data has shown very good interim results.

Tuesday, November 8 at 9:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. It may be a common problem, but not always easy to talk about. Overactive bladder affects 33 million American adults, women a bit more than men. And it's estimated 17-thousand people will die of bladder cancer this year. We’ll explore the risk factors you can control and the advancements in treatment for bladder disorders.

Visit our website, www.kansashealthsystem.com or findadoctor.kansashealthsystem.com.

• Category

  Stomach Cancer