Deeper expertise and a broader reach are
transforming more patients’ lives
Cancer Care
J
anelle Comiskey, of Leander,
Texas, had a feeling something
was wrong. She felt a
thickening in her right breast, although
it didn’t feel like a lump. She had had
a clean result on a mammogram a few
months earlier, in August 2010, and
was disturbed about this turn of events.
To be on the safe side, her primary
care physician referred her to Scott &
White Healthcare - Round Rock Chief
Medical Officer Rob W. Watson, MD,
assistant professor of surgery, Texas
A&M Health Science Center College of
Medicine, who ordered an ultrasound
and an additional mammography exam.
Nothing suspicious showed up, but
Dr. Watson and his patient decided that
the best course of action was to remove
the mysterious mass.
In a small percentage of cases, breast
cancer is difficult to detect. After her
surgery, Mrs. Comiskey, age 45, was
diagnosed with triple negative breast
cancer, an aggressive form of the disease.
It gets its name because triple negative
breast cancer is unresponsive to targeted
therapies used to block estrogen,
progesterone, and human epidermal
growth factor receptors. Conventional
treatments, such as chemotherapy and
radiation, would find some success
in treating this rare patient, but Mrs.
Comiskey was in for the fight of her life.
She immediately began chemotherapy
followed by bilateral mastectomies.
Expanded specialty care
Learning you have cancer is a
devastating experience. The good news
is that diagnostic improvements and
promising therapies continue to emerge.
That’s why focusing attention on
new treatments, screening exams, and
medications that extend and improve
the quality of life and increase survival
Scott & White is one of the first providers in Central Texas
to be recognized by the American College of Surgeons’
National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.
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The Catalyst November 12 | sw.org
rates is paramount. Psychological,
emotional, and spiritual support is
critically important, too.
Scott & White is broadening its
reach, by giving patients more access
to high-quality cancer care, with a
multidisciplinary and personalized
approach toward treatment. For Scott &
White patients, that expertise originates
from the Glenda Tanner Vasicek Cancer
Treatment Center on the Scott & White
Memorial Hospital campus in Temple,
Texas. Specialized oncology care is now
being enhanced and introduced at the
healthcare system’s regional locations.
New Scott & White Healthcare cancer
centers are in development in Waco at
Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center Scott
& White Healthcare, and at Scott &
White hospital locations in Round
Rock and College Station (see pages
6–7). The entire system of regional
cancer centers, combined with the
tertiary care at the Vasicek Center will
constitute the Scott & White Cancer
Institute. Scott & White’s legacy is built
on a cohesive model of clinical care, and
today this is helping more patients like
Mrs. Comiskey access unprecedented
expertise in their own communities.