A new clinical trial at Scott & White seeks to help patients with a common , aggressive type of brain tumor
ust before boarding a plane
J from her home in Denver ,
Colorado , to travel to Austin , Texas , Michele Jesse had lunch with her six-year-old son , Taylor , in the cafeteria on his last day of school . “ He told me to wear my hair however I wanted . He said it didn ’ t matter to him . I was very proud ,” Mrs . Jesse says as her husband , Ian , and Ekokobe Fonkem , DO , a neuro-oncologist in the Brain and Spine Tumor Program at the Scott & White Healthcare Neuroscience Institute , brain tumors from coming back . ( TTF therapy was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2011 for patients with brain tumors that return or progress , even after chemotherapy and radiation treatment .) By instituting the TTF therapy earlier in a patient ’ s diagnosis , clinicians hope to minimize the chance of recurrence .
Dr . Fonkem is a specialist in treating glioblastoma multiforme . He arrived at Scott & White Healthcare earlier this year , after beginning the clinical
OF HOPE
gently remove large adhesive bandages filled with quarter-sized electrodes from her scalp .
Mrs . Jesse , age 45 , is participating in a clinical trial at Scott & White Healthcare , one of 33 centers around the globe examining whether newly diagnosed patients with an aggressive and common type of brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme , can benefit from tumor-treating fields therapy , or TTF therapy . Clinicians are testing whether electric fields can stop cancer cells from multiplying and prevent trial at Harvard University ’ s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center , in Boston , Massachusetts , where he completed his neuro-oncology training . He has already started six patients on the therapy . Preliminary results have been promising in controlling tumor recurrence in patients enrolled in the clinical trial for newly diagnosed glioblastoma , and mixed for patients with recurrent glioblastoma .
“ TTF therapy blocks rapid cell division , and that ’ s what cancer is ,” Dr . Fonkem explains . “ These tumors
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