Siteman Cancer Center is among the first cancer centers in the nation to pioneer a treatment described as “a last line of defense for many patients,” according to the center’s deputy director, Dr. John DiPersio. The treatment, CAR-T cell therapy, uses genetically modified T cells to find, attack, and kill malignant plasma cells. The FDA has approved the therapy for large B-cell lymphoma and for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in people under 25.
At the same time, DiPersio is focusing on clinical trials for multiple myeloma. “The treatments can prolong the survival of most patients—and that’s significant,” he says. The center has already treated eligible patients (those whose disease hasn’t responded to treatment), and new trials were slated to begin this summer. DiPersio anticipates that the treatment will be approved by the FDA in 12 to 18 months.
Siteman is also adding a second proton therapy room that will be used for pencil beam scanning. Dr. Jeff Michalski, professor and vice chair of radiation oncology at Wash. U., likens the technology to pointillism, referencing the work of French impressionist painter Georges-Pierre Seurat, who used dots to create pictures. “Pencil beam scanning basically takes that very fine paintbrush of a dot,” says Michalski, “and moves a little radiation spot throughout the entire volume of a tumor.”
Siteman is also expanding, with two new satellites: a $26.3 million project in North County that’s slated for completion by December and a $38 million project at Memorial Hospital East, in Shiloh, that’s set to open in 2020. “People will be able to access the same world-class care, the same commitment to innovation, the same commitment to technology,” says Dr. Timothy Eberlein, director of Siteman, “closer to home.”
Family Matters
This year, St. Louis Children’s Hospital became the first in the region to offer a newer treatment for advanced-stage neuroblastoma, a rare cancer almost exclusive to young children. In the MIBG treatment, radioactive iodine is administered to young patients in a lead-lined space. An antechamber holds a family room. “It’s important to keep family close,” says Dr. Frederick Huang, a Wash. U. pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Flex Time
At one time, treating tonsil and tongue-based cancer required splitting the jaw. “That’s a bridge too far for many people,” says Dr. Greg Ward, a SLUCare otolaryngologist at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital.
Enter SLU Hospital’s Flex Robotic System, a less invasive robotic technology that gives doctors like Ward “a direct line of sight” and the ability to reach such areas.
More Options
Scheduled to open next spring, Mercy Hospital South’s forthcoming David M. Sindelar Cancer Center will offer high-tech diagnostic and treatment capabilities for all cancer types, as well as a space dedicated to breast health.
