Katie Kosko

Adapting to the ever-changing nature of 2020 and the cancer journey was the theme of the night at 

®’s virtual Ovarian Cancer Heroes program, as attendees gathered online to continue to celebrate the outstanding heroes in the ovarian cancer landscape despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

A virtual audience of over one-hundred gynecologic oncologists, nurses, advocates, patients and loved ones tuned in for speeches and discussions from this year’s winners along with keynote speaker Joan Lunden who shared her personal journey with cancer.

The award-winning journalist, bestselling author and motivational speaker received a triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis in 2014 which required a treatment plan of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.

Lunden turned her cancer experience into an opportunity to help other women. The patient turned advocate blogged through her treatment, serves as an ambassador for Amgen’s Breakaway from Cancer, advocates for patients on Capitol Hill and communicates with the cancer community through her social media channels and website.

“I once heard that there are two great days in your life, the day you're born and then the day you discover why,” said Lunden in her speech. “For me, it is being an advocate for other women. This is what kind of fuels me on my warrior journey; (it’s) why I continue to travel the country and speak to women's groups. It's why I do my part in educating others and in fight for needed changes in health care policy, and of course, to help raise funds for more research, more treatment answers and hopefully someday, a cure.”

Lunden helped present the Ovarian Cancer Heroes awards to three individuals — an oncology nurse, patient turned advocate and cancer biologist.

Robin Cohen, Andrea Herzberg and Deborah Zajchowski were honored for their innovative research and dedication to making a difference in the lives of patients with ovarian cancer and for what it truly means to be a hero for patients.

Making A Difference for Every Patient with Ovarian Cancer

Cohen, an oncology nurse at Lankenau Medical Center in a suburb of Philadelphia, was the first to be recognized after being nominated by survivor and previous Ovarian Cancer Heroes recipient Susan Leighton, whom she met at a national ovarian cancer conference.

“I have met many compassionate and professional nurses on my journey with ovarian cancer. They are at the very center of care, from the exam room when a woman first hears ‘ovarian cancer’ to the operating and recovery room where she comes to the realization that she is facing her mortality … to the infusion room when she is overtaken with physical side effects and anxiety … they are a lifeline to those drowning in unfamiliar waters. Robin Cohen is the epitome of this type of nurse,” Leighton wrote in her nomination essay.

Cohen serves as CEO of the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation, which she cofounded with the sister of one of her patients who died from the disease in 2000. In addition to keeping the memory of Sandy Rollman alive, the nonprofit organization gives a voice to patients and has awarded more than $4 million to ovarian cancer research.

“I always think of the person behind the disease, her needs and the needs of her family,” Cohen said in her acceptance remarks. “I celebrate every story of survivorship, and I remember every woman that we've lost, and they are alive every day in the work that I do. So, I just want to say to any ovarian cancer survivors listening, I will always fight for you.”

In the late 1990s, Herzberg, then a 39-year-old mother of a 4-year-old, was faced with a stage 3c ovarian cancer diagnosis. Now a 23-year survivor, the former New York Police Department sergeant lends her firsthand experience and support to other women through SHARE as a helpline coordinator, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering women affected by breast and ovarian cancer.

“Andrea is a long-term ovarian cancer survivor who’s been managing SHARE’s Ovarian Cancer Helpline for nine years — seven days a week — and facilitating two ovarian cancer support groups each month. In the ovarian cancer world where less than half of women diagnosed survive more than five years … she provides hope and strength to others,” wrote her nominator and colleague Stephanie Blaufarb.

“When I use the word lucky, I usually quote Brooklyn Dodger baseball manager, Branch Rickey, who observed that luck is the residue of design,” Herzberg explained when describing her long journey as both a patient with ovarian cancer and a patient advocate. “I feel lucky to have known, and still know, and continue to meet so many ovarian cancer heroes. We raise awareness, we raise money, sometimes we even raise hell on behalf of women who will be diagnosed. We want them all to be lucky by design.”

For more than 25 years, Deborah Zajchowski, who holds a doctorate in biochemistry, has been involved in cancer research and drug development initially focusing on breast cancer. After her sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she pivoted her focus and found a new calling.

In her current role as scientific director of the Clearity Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the survival and quality of life of women with ovarian cancer, she ensures that patients receive information on the most advanced treatment options for the disease and helps them get one-on-one consultations. Zajchowski is also a member of the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

At the foundation, Zajchowski has led many projects bringing them to fruition including an online interactive tumor profiling report, an ovarian cancer-specific clinical trial search tool and a treatment option guide that provides individualized information. She describes her work with Clearity as life changing for her, but it started with tragedy before she joined the foundation.

“Tragedy struck at the same time, my cherished friend and former partner Peggy was diagnosed with an aggressive form of uterine cancer and passed away not long afterwards. But not before I made a promise that I would try to help other people, other patients, understand their cancer diagnosis, and options as I had tried to help her,” Zajchowski said in her speech. “Who would have guessed that I would have had the opportunity to change not only my career, but my life very soon after that … Fast forward 12 years and here I find myself today.”

“It is an honor to work with someone who is so smart, professional and knowledgeable about ovarian cancer and who is so passionately inspired to assist as many women as possible in managing this disease,” wrote nominator Susan Hess, who also works at the Clearity Foundation. “Deb has been a force for good in the ovarian cancer community for many, many years and has helped many, many women and their caregivers … she is a real hero.”

Amid the virtual celebration everyone remarked how different and exhausting this year of virtual life has been, but how the resiliency that is required on the cancer journey plays an important role in managing the new challenges we all face.

“For women with ovarian cancer this year has been particularly difficult, adding the challenges of surgery, chemotherapy, doctor's visits and the general fear of vulnerability to a virus that we knew little about,” said Stefanie E. Nacar, the head of U.S. Oncology Communications at GSK who supported the event. “Women with ovarian cancer have had to overcome not just the obstacle of their disease, but all of the physical and mental barriers COVID-19 created. Fortunately, through the work of organizations represented here today, and programs like what we've launched at GSK, we have all directed that same personal motivation to support these women and their families through these unique circumstances.”

In all the hero’s speeches they spoke to the incredible courage patients have, and the only way to succeed was to have a strong care team around them. Moreover, how patients can succeed by reaching out to those around them no matter the circumstances.

“2020 has certainly proven to be a challenge for all of us,” said Erik Lohrmann, vice president, CURE Media Group. “Regardless of the circumstance, MJH Life Sciences and CURE Magazine, with support from GSK, are honored to recognize individuals who have dedicated their lives and careers to improving care for ovarian cancer patients.”

Congratulations to Kimberly Bourque and Victoria Velazquez on winning the Visa Gift Card raffle! 

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to

Articles

An oncology nurse, patient turned advocate and cancer biologist were honored during CURE®’s third annual Ovarian Cancer Heroes program where they got to share messages of resiliency with a virtual audience.   

CURE®’s Annual Ovarian Cancer Heroes Program Goes Virtual Amid COVID-19 to Honor Three Women Who Have Dedicated Their Lives to Patients with Gynecologic Cancer

Although active surveillance is appropriate for many patients with prostate cancer, radiation is an option for those whose disease is localized to the prostate, according to Dr. Sameer Keole, who recently presented on the topic during 

’s Educated Patient® Prostate Cancer Summit.

“I always counsel patients that when they’re making a prostate cancer decision option, usually it’s not so they’re alive but rather they’re alive relative to freedom of disease progression,” said Keole, a radiation oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona.

He presented data from a clinical trial held in England, what he called “The Mona Lisa” trial, since many experts thought it couldn’t be done. Patients were randomly selected to receive surgery, radiotherapy or active surveillance. While surgery and radiotherapy were equal when examining disease control, patients had a 10% lower chance of having disease control with active surveillance.

“This isn’t to say one treatment is better than the other, but they’re different. And they have different side effects. That’s how I counsel patients to make decisions,” said Keole.

A newly diagnosed patient will see a radiation oncologist who will decide whether they should be treated. Then computerized tomography (CT) simulation is done by using a CT scanner machine, followed by MRI and the treatment plan. If a patient is treated, they are seen weekly and followed afterward, explained Keole.

Typically, patients with a Gleason score of six are good candidates for active surveillance, explained experts who participated in a panel discussion following the presentation. A Gleason score is used to determine the aggressiveness of the prostate cancer (a score of six is low-grade, seven is intermediate and eight to 10 is high-grade).

However, for patients who will need radiation therapy, three major categories exist: external beam radiation therapy (EBRT); brachytherapy; and radioisotopes, also known as radiopharmaceuticals, which are more commonly used when the cancer has spread.

To destroy cancerous cells and shrink tumors, EBRT uses a direct beam of radiation from outside the body compared with brachytherapy that involves placing radioactive material inside the body. Brachytherapy has three advantages over EBRT: it can be delivered at higher doses to more specific areas, has fewer side effects and treatment is usually shorter, according to Mayo Clinic.

Radiopharmaceuticals, which are injected, can be used for patients whose prostate cancer has spread to the bones and has accompanying pain. Currently, radium is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said Keole. But excitement in the field lies in prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), which is expressed on the surface of prostate cancer cells. “It’s overexpressed in prostate cancer and then further overexpressed in aggressive prostate cancer,” said Keole.

PSMA originated in Europe and has yet to receive FDA approval in the United States but remains to be studied in clinical trials. For instance, the phase 2 TheraP study compared PSMA with lutetium-177–labeled PSMA-617 (LuPSMA) with cabazitaxel, a type of chemotherapy to treat prostate cancer, in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer that had progressed on docetaxel. Researchers found that Lu-PSMA had better efficacy and fewer side effects than cabazitaxel.

“We are very, very excited,” said Keole. “We think it’s going to be useful for both diagnosis and therapeutic options.”

Active surveillance can be used for many patients with prostate cancer; however, when localized, radiation therapy is an option. 

Breaking Down Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) whose tumors couldn’t be surgically removed lived longer after being treated with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) compared with those who received transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), according to phase 3 study findings presented at the 2020 European Society for Medical Oncology Virtual Congress.

The trial, which was conducted in China, included 315 patients who were chosen randomly to receive either HAIC with oxaliplatin, fluorouracil and leucovorin, or TACE. Patients were mostly men, at least 18 years old and had a primary HCC tumor measuring more than seven centimeters. In addition, 90% of the patients had hepatitis B infection, 60% had liver cirrhosis and about half had more than three lesions.

TACE is the current standard of care for patients with unresectable intermediate-stage HCC. “Intermediate or BCLC B stage HCC is a largely heterogenous group that includes patients who do not benefit from TACE — the standard of care — with a median overall survival of only nine to 13 months,” Dr. Lorenza Rimassa, associate professor of medical oncology, Humanitas University and Humanitas Research Hospital-IRCCS in Milan, Italy, said in a discussion following the presentation. “This represents an important unmet clinical need and new data are strongly needed.”

Patients who were treated with HAIC received up to six cycles, whereas TACE was given on demand. Treatment continued until tumor progression or if the patient could no longer tolerate it.

“There was no significant difference in the number of patients receiving either subsequent treatment between the two (groups),” study author Dr. Ming Shi, department of Hepatobiliary Oncology, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, in Guangzhou, China, said during the virtual meeting.

The researchers found that overall survival, the study’s primary endpoint, was 23.1 months with HAIC compared with 16.07 months with TACE. HAIC patients also had a higher overall response rate compared with TACE patients, 45.9% versus 17.9%, respectively. Median progression-free survival, or the time a patient lives without disease worsening, was 9.63 months in the HAIC group versus 5.4 months in the TACE group.

“We can appreciate that overall survival is longer than expected in the TACE (group), overall survival curves seem to separate after six months, (and) progression-free survival curves seem to separate from the beginning,” Ramissa said. “(But) we have further questions.”

Although both groups experienced serious side effects, HAIC had a better safety profile compared with TACE, Shi said. Serious side effects occurred in the TACE group (30%) versus the HAIC group (19%). These included abdominal swelling caused by accumulation of fluid, hyperbilirubinemia (too much bilirubin in the blood), upper gastrointestinal bleeding, inflammation of the bile duct system and infection. However, the HAIC group experienced more occurrences of thrombocytopenia, neutropenia and diarrhea. Two treatment-related grade 5 events were seen in each group.

The cut-off for the present analysis was April 2020 and patient follow-up is on-going.

“HAIC is not a globally accepted treatment for HCC,” Rimassa said regarding trial design. “It is mainly used in China where this trial has been conducted and more clinical trials are needed to define it’s true.”

Overall survival was better with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy compared with transarterial chemoembolization, according to phase 3 study findings.

Patients with Unresectable HCC Lived Longer When Given Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy Versus Standard of Care

In the middle of the night, in October 2018, Kelly Fosso Rodenberg awoke to what felt like lightning bolts running through the fingers on her left hand. Given that she had worked on a computer for 35 years, she thought it might be a pinched nerve.

But in the days that followed, Rodenberg noticed some oddities, such as typing mistakes and a twitch in her hand. Then, while slicing an apple for her breakfast, she cut her thumb but didn’t feel it.

Rodenberg called a clinic in Minneapolis but couldn’t get in for two weeks. A nurse recommended that, based on her symptoms, she go to a walk-in clinic. From there she was sent to a neurologist.

Within 10 days, Rodenberg received a diagnosis of stage 4 glioblastoma (GBM), a rare and aggressive type of brain cancer. Although devastated, Rodenberg relied on her sense of humor to help her through surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Channeling her experience as a patient and caregiver for her husband, who has a rare blood disorder called POEMS syndrome, she wrote a book, “There’s Something Going On Upstairs: Learning to Laugh My Way through a Cancerous Brain Tumor, One Chemo Cycle at a Time.”

®, she details her diagnosis and biggest challenges and reveals who keeps her laughing.

®: How quickly did the neurologist know that something wasn’t right?

It took the neurologist 30 minutes to say, “I think there’s something going on upstairs.” We tried to get an appointment for an MRI, which didn’t happen because it was late in the day on a Friday. He said, “I’m so sorry. We’ll have to send you home, but if you have any other symptoms over the weekend, I want you to go to the emergency room.” I got up Saturday morning and my balance was completely off. So we went to the ER and 45 minutes later they’re showing me a golf ball-size brain tumor above my right ear.

My husband and I made the decision to get a second opinion. They were telling me in Minneapolis that there was a 50-50 chance after surgery that my entire left side was going to be paralyzed. We didn’t like that option. 

So that’s when we decided to go to Mayo Clinic, and that surgeon said, “I think I can input a pinpoint insertion from underneath your tumor, so I don’t affect your motor bands and your sensory bands. And if that’s the case, I give you about a 5% chance that your movement will be any different.” Today, my hand is the same after surgery as it was before, which is a blessing. I’ve done a little bit of therapy, but it hasn’t helped a whole lot, so I still type with one hand.

What has been the most challenging aspect of dealing with your cancer?

The fatigue was just terrible. There were a couple of months when I was in bed for 12 days straight and thought, “Seriously, I have to go brush my teeth today?” But almost equally — and again, I’ve been a caretaker for my husband and now I’m the patient — it’s challenging to ask for help. It’s been a learning curve to be patient with myself. Not everything happens the way it

used to, so you have to step back and find a different way to do daily things. I laugh because I told my oncologist, “Well, my husband was able to keep me both busy and quiet for a solid 45 minutes when he asked me to take a twist-tie off a bag.” Because you have one hand. Or folding a load of clothes — you have one hand, so it takes twice as long.

In between the bouts of radiation and chemotherapy, it’s easy to pull a blanket over your head and get very depressed. I learned early on that I needed to find light in this whole situation. That’s when the writing of this book came to be. It started out as a journal for myself, but the more I typed, the better I felt. And I thought, “This could actually help somebody along the way — having both the caregiver and now the patient experience.”

Can readers expect a lesson from “There’s Something Going On Upstairs”?

It’s not always easy. It’s not always fun. But the way you react ... It doesn’t do anybody any good — yourself, your caregiver, your spouse — to bury your head. Try to have a sunnier disposition and make the best out of a bad situation. I think the turning point for me was when I saw and heard how I was helping people get through their struggles. That is a complete motivator.

Do you look back on any moments since the diagnosis that stand out as humorous?



I enjoy poking fun of myself, and one of my greatest joys is that my brothers and nephews still poke fun at me at family get-togethers. I joke that I have an official “brain tumor card” and I can use it anytime. It’s something I have for medical reasons, but it’s also a way to poke fun, and it helps people know that you still enjoy a laugh.

After receiving a stage 4 glioblastoma diagnosis, one woman taps into her sense of humor — and turns that into a book.

Author | Katie Kosko

CURE®’s Annual Ovarian Cancer Heroes Program Goes Virtual Amid COVID-19 to Honor Three Women Who Have Dedicated Their Lives to Patients with Gynecologic Cancer

Breaking Down Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Patients with Unresectable HCC Lived Longer When Given Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy Versus Standard of Care

Laughing In The Face of A Brain Tumor