Many people have loved ones who have been affected by cancer. There will be an estimated 1.9 million new cancer cases diagnosed in 2022, according to Cancer.org. While there is no definite cure, there is new research, technology and medicine to help treat the disease and catch it as early as possible.
On this edition of To The Point Already, Bay News 9 anchors Rick Elmhorst and Roy DeJesus talk with Moffitt Cancer Center’s Dr. Colin Moore with the GeneHome Clinic and Everet Simmons, Director of Design And Construction, about some of the new, cutting-edge work Moffitt is doing and what is happening in cancer research, specifically when it comes to genetic testing.
For Rick, the subject is a personal one. His father has been treated twice at Moffitt for kidney cancer successfully, his brother-in-law has also been treated for kidney cancer there, his sister-in-law has been treated successfully for colon cancer at the center, and his brother-in-law’s father-in-law has been treated numerous times for prostate cancer at Moffitt, and they kept him going for a long time.
At Moffitt, Rick’s father, who is 85-years-old, had genetic testing done, where somewhere over 70 genes were looked at seeing if he might be predisposed to cancer, and therefore maybe his kids might be predisposed. Moffitt arranged a Zoom call with Rick’s parents, along with Rick, as well as his brother and two sisters, and they did the big reveal. They did not find any genetic predisposition to cancer for the things that they were able to test for.
Dr. Moore says that the field of genetic testing has been growing for well over 20 to 30 years now, with the first identified cancer predisposition syndromes leading back to breast cancer and prostate cancer years ago. He added that after much research, it’s estimated that up to 17.5% of patients who have cancer have an underlying genetic mutation that puts them at increased risk of having that.
“So being able to treat the cancer doesn’t just stop at having the diagnosis, having the surgery, or the medication, whatever that may be,” said Dr. Moore. “It’s really understanding the full picture of what does this mean to the patient as a whole moving forward in their life? Is there a possibility for this to pass over to family members? So many times we think that cancer, when it happens, it just happens. It’s terrible luck – let’s treat it, let’s take care of it. We found more and more, it’s not just terrible luck. There can be a lot of genetic abnormalities associated with it.”
Dr. Moore says that people get genetic testing for a variety of reasons. Some are active cancer patients and have a diagnosis, and their diagnosis may be of a cancer type that they know already. Moffitt also sees patients who have a family history of cancer. He also says that often, those patients with a family history are in the younger populations, and that many of these patients may identify that genetic mutation in their 20s, but the cancers may not pop up until their 40s or 50s.
He added that this would put them on a roadmap, so for example, at age 35, perhaps the recommendation is to get a checkup once a year, review genetic mutations and evaluate research to put together the best strategy possible.
As far as prevention goes, there are a few things Dr. Moore says can lessen the chances of getting cancer: avoiding smoking and drinking, along with wearing plenty of sunscreen – which, especially in Florida, is something to pay extra attention to.
Moffitt Cancer Center is also continuing its efforts to help patients receive the best cancer treatment possible by opening a new hospital.
Everet Simmons, Director of Design And Construction at Moffitt Cancer Center, said that the over $400 million hospital will be over half a million square feet. He says it will open with 19 operating rooms and 128 patient beds, and that Moffitt will be seeing surgical patients there in order to provide easy access to them, so they can come in and have their surgery, and start addressing their cancer treatment.
The new hospital, which has been around five years in the making, will be located on McKinley Drive across from Moffitt’s outpatient campus in Tampa. There will be a bridge to connect the two campuses. It is set to open in July 2023.
“The reason we had to expand our footprint was the unfortunate rise in cancer rates and the rise in patients,” said Simmons.
He said this is due to population growth, early detection and the experts at Moffitt being able to provide the absolute best treatment that they can.
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Spectrum Bay News 9 anchor Rick Elmhorst sits down with the people that represent you, the people fighting for change and the people with fascinating stories to ask the hard questions.
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