Social Work Provides Essential Support to Ease the Cancer Burden

Patients and families come to the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute from many places, in various stages of their disease and from many different life situations. Some are dealing with a new cancer diagnosis, while others are facing an unexpected and unsettling recurrence. Some are able to handle the financial stressors of a chronic illness, but understandably, are knocked off balance emotionally. Many are also in the almost 20% of Arkansans who fall below the federal poverty guidelines — or they are in the group just over those guidelines who still experience financial struggles.

In the last 10 years, the Cancer Institute Social Work Department has focused more on addressing all of the stressors that impact patients and families — those that limit access to treatment, compliance with medical recommendations and overall quality of life.

“We are integrated into the clinic teams to raise awareness of psychosocial issues affecting the medical picture and increase the identification of patients who need services,” said Harriet Farley, social work program manager.

“We’re trained to view people within their situations, so we look at the whole person and what types of support are needed to help strengthen individuals and families going through treatment,” she said.

Some patients need housing while they are receiving ongoing treatment. Many are not able to afford the frequent trips between their homes and Little Rock for multiple medical appointments and treatments. Often, patients have limited or no insurance coverage for medications.

“Many of our patients and families were experiencing food insecurity before the cancer diagnosis hit their family. Now they have the normal family food needs and the specialized nutritional needs of the patient,” said Farley. 

For patients who enter the oncology world with a financial deficit, the social work department supports these needs with assistance in local housing, transportation (gas cards, van, taxi and LYFT rides), medications and food (meal tickets and food bags). The Cancer Institute Auxiliary provides the majority of funding needed to provide this assistance through their annual grants, in addition to personal donations and grants from the American Cancer Society. 

It’s common for patients and their caregivers to experience depression, anxiety and difficulties reconciling the other aspects of their lives with cancer. Social workers often provide or make referrals for mental health services that can help people navigate this challenging time in their lives. 

“It can be overwhelming for patients,” said Farley. “We often serve as advocates for patients and families with the medical team to help facilitate communication and understanding in an unfamiliar territory.”

If you or someone you know could benefit from assistance, please contact Cancer Institute Social Work at 501-603-1612.

• 2,700+ new cancer patients
• 150,000+ patient visits
• Arkansas’ only CAR T-cell therapy provider for relapsing multiple myeloma, acute leukemias and lymphomas
• 35+ cancer types 
• Patients from all 50 U.S. states and all 75 Arkansas counties

Specialty Clinics 

• Behavioral Medicine 
• Breast Center 
• Cancer Nutrition
• Cardio-Oncology 
• Dermatology Oncology
• Head and Neck Oncology 
• Hematology Oncology 
• Medical Oncology 
• Myeloma 
• Neuro-Oncology
• Neurofibromatosis 
• Orthopedic Oncology 
• Palliative Care 
• Radiation Oncology 
• Surgical Oncology
• Urology Oncology
• Gynecologic Oncology
• Lymphedema 
• Cancer Survivorship (post-treatment, monitoring and support)

Clinical Leaders

Shi Ming-Tu, M.D.

Director, Solid Tumors

Muthu Veeraputhiran, M.D., MPH, FACP

Director, Hematology, Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy

Frits Van Rhee, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Director of Clinical Science

Email: vanrheefrits@uams.edu

Joining the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute’s growing team of clinicians is Shi-Ming Tu, M.D., who specializes in the treatment of genitourinary cancers.

A fellowship-trained medical oncologist from MD Anderson Cancer Center with 30 years of clinical experience, Tu treats cancers of the urinary system of men and women and the reproductive organs in men. Prostate cancer is the most common genitourinary malignancy and the third highest cancer diagnosis in Arkansas with an estimated 2,680 cases per year

“Dr. Tu will bolster a growing team of physicians and scientists in the battle against genitourinary malignancies,” said Michael Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., Cancer Institute director and UAMS vice chancellor. “He joins a multidisciplinary team of clinicians committed to holistic and patient-centered cancer care, including uro-oncologic surgeons, radiation oncologists specializing in modern treatments of GU tumors and other clinical specialists.”

Before joining UAMS, Tu served for 28 years on the medical oncology faculty at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. There, he conducted clinical and translational research relating to genitourinary cancers, authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles, presented at national and international conferences and developed a highly regarded clinical practice. In addition to clinical work on the main campus, he also conducted specialty clinics at one of MD Anderson’s satellite network sites in the greater Houston area. 

After earning his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis and completing residency at the University of Illinois Hospitals, Tu completed a clinical fellowship in genitourinary medical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. 

Sunny Singh, M.D.

Director, UAMS Baptist Health Cancer Center, North Little Rock

Phone: 501-214-2170

Shi-Ming Tu, M.D.

Specializes in the treatment of genitourinary cancers

Phone: 501-296-1200

Institute Partners with Baptist Health to Expand Clinical Services Statewide

In August 2021, the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute opened its first satellite cancer center in partnership with Baptist Health. The new UAMS Baptist Health Cancer Center located on Baptist’s North Little Rock campus is one of many jointly run cancer clinics planned around the state. 

The North Little Rock center is staffed by UAMS medical and radiation oncologists and nurses, offering medical oncology, infusion and radiation therapy services for most cancer types.

“This collaboration benefits the people of Arkansas by bringing the most advanced cancer care in the state closer to where people live,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “Building on our longstanding relationship, UAMS and Baptist Health are taking steps to expand the innovative and unique oncological care found at UAMS’ Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute into all corners of the state.”

“The opening of UAMS Baptist Health Cancer Center on our Baptist Health Medical Center North Little Rock campus is just the beginning of our cancer partnership and another example of our shared commitment to bring the best health care to the people of Arkansas,” said Troy Wells, president and CEO of Baptist Health. “Uniting together against cancer, this partnership will leverage our network of 11 hospitals and 100 clinics to bridge the gaps in state-of-the-art cancer care where patients need these services most across the state.”

The center’s two clinics, a Medical Oncology and Infusion Clinic and a Radiation Therapy Clinic, are both located at 3401 Springhill Drive in the Baptist Health Springhill Medical Plaza in North Little Rock. Future clinics are planned at Baptist Health’s main campus in Little Rock and Fort Smith.

“This is the start of a statewide cancer network that will allow us to provide cancer services throughout Arkansas,” said Michael J. Birrer, M.D., Ph.D., UAMS vice chancellor and director of the Cancer Institute. 

Learn more

Set for 2023 Opening 

In good news for Arkansas cancer patients, the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute will open the state’s first proton therapy center in 2023. The Cancer Institute is partnering with Arkansas Children’s, Baptist Health and Proton International to build the new center that will provide a more advanced and precise form of radiation treatment for children and adults with solid tumors.

Construction of the three-story, 52,249 square foot center will double UAMS’ current radiation therapy center space and will be one of only 41 proton therapy centers nationwide. At present, patients must travel to Memphis, Tennessee, or Shreveport, Louisiana for the nearest proton therapy treatment. 

Proton therapy is a state-of-the-art technology that uses a precisely focused high-energy beam to target tumors, often in hard-to-reach areas, without affecting surrounding tissue. The treatment is particularly effective in treating solid cancer tumors, including tumors of the brain, spine, head and neck, lung, prostate, colon and some breast tumors. 

But it’s the ability to better treat children with cancer that excites Kevin Bielamowicz, M.D., pediatric oncologist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and assistant professor of pediatric hematology and oncology at UAMS. 

“Proton therapy hopes to reduce the radiation exposure to normal body structures with more targeted delivery of radiation to tumors and cancer,” said Bielamowicz. “This is especially important in the developing brain of a young child. Radiation to the brain can have long term side effects including impairment of a child’s learning and development, hormone deficiencies, second cancers and stroke among others.” 

“High-tech advances such as the Proton Center will provide first-rate care for more people as well as attract even more world-class doctors and researchers as UAMS continues its pursuit of the National Cancer Institute Designation,” said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA. 

“The partnership of UAMS with Arkansas Children’s, Baptist Health and Proton International ensures that Arkansas will continue to be a place of healing for thousands of cancer patients.”

UAMS Radiation Oncology Department Chair Fen Xia, M.D., Ph.D., who has treated more than 1,000 cancer patients in her two decades of experience, says patients who receive proton therapy will likely have a better of quality of life.

“The good news is that more patients are surviving cancer and living longer,” said Xia. “It’s always great when we stop the growth of the disease, but there are often side effects of traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatment that patients struggle with for the rest
of their lives.” 

“It’s the targeting ability of proton therapy that allows the oncologist to deliver treatment to the tumor and spare normal tissue,” she said. “Especially for young children, this is very important. We can be more precise and limit radiation exposure to the rest of the body.” 

CAR T-Cell Therapy at UAMS Expands as First Myeloma Patient Sees Dramatic Results

The fruits of being the first and only hospital in Arkansas approved more than three years ago to provide a revolutionary new therapy for lymphoma and acute leukemia are being realized at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. 

The state’s only combined academic, clinical and research leader has expanded the revolutionary treatment — chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy — to patients with relapsing myeloma. The promising patient responses signal that the wave of exciting breakthrough treatments for cancer patients is only beginning. 

CAR T-cell therapy, offered through UAMS’ Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, is a life-saving treatment option for patients with specific types of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma who have failed at least two other treatments. In the treatment, the patients’ own T cells, a type of white blood cell integral to the immune system, are collected and shipped to a laboratory in New Jersey and genetically altered. Returned to the patient through infusion, the modified cells expand, multiply and seek out specific cancerous cells and kill them. 

Since UAMS began offering the FDA-approved therapy in December 2019, the Cancer Institute has treated 43 patients with myeloma, large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 

For lymphoma patients, CAR T may be their only option. “Average survival from lymphoma that is resistant to conventional chemotherapy is very short,” said Muthu Veeraputhiran, M.D., UAMS hematologist/oncologist and director of the Cancer Institute’s Stem Cell and Cellular Therapy Transplant Team. “Less than 10% of patients live six months.”

“It’s early but the data shows that CAR T cures around 50-80% of the lymphomas,” he said.

Dave Puente of Oak Grove, California, the first myeloma patient to receive CAR T-cell therapy at UAMS, is thriving since receiving CAR T in November 2021. Puente, who battled myeloma for 14-plus years, went into full remission just in time to realize a dream – walking his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. 

Within two weeks of his CAR T-cell therapy transplant, “his blood work showed that the myeloma is no longer detectable,” said Frits van Rhee, M.D., Ph.D., clinical director of the Myeloma Center. 

Van Rhee called Puente’s response to the treatment, for which UAMS gained approval for myeloma patients only three months earlier, “remarkable.” 

“This is the dawn of a new day in treatment,” he said. 

Puente, 62, an electrical engineer, was diagnosed with myeloma in June 2008. In 2011, after several trips across the country to be treated by van Rhee, he was in remission for six years. But then his myeloma, which mutates to survive, returned. 

He remained hospitalized for two weeks after his treatment, and he and his wife returned to their home in California in early December. No follow-up treatments are required with CAR T-cell immunotherapy treatments.