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Breast Cancer Didn’t Steal Little Rock Woman’s Zeal for Life

Oct. 12, 2017 | The past year and a half has included many challenges for Josephine Guiden — being diagnosed with cancer, then chemotherapy, surgery and radiation treatments— but none of them have snatched her passion for life.

“There’s power in knowing you have to be positive about life,” said the 70-year-old Little Rock resident. “You only come this way once and you have to make the best of it while you’re here.”

Guiden’s taxing journey began in May of 2016 when she discovered a knot in her breast under her right arm. She recognized immediately it could be cancer.

“It was shocking, but through years of mammograms and exams, physicians tell you what the knot will feel like,” she said. “You don’t quite get it then, but when I felt that knot, I knew it was malignant. I knew it was cancer.”

She called her doctor and had a previously scheduled mammogram moved up, but in the meantime, went on a bus trip to New York with the Patrick Henry Hays Senior Center in North Little Rock.

“I had lots of fun,” she said, “but my energy level was low.”

When she returned, her mammogram and biopsy confirmed what she already suspected: breast cancer. However, at stage 3 it was more advanced than she expected.

“There was anxiety and fear when it was confirmed and it was so advanced that I was upset with myself,” she said. “Even though I expected the diagnosis, I came home afterwards and had a good cry. But I knew I had to stay positive, I had to pray about the situation and that’s what I did. I told God, ‘I choose life. I want to live.’”

She was shepherded through the next several months of treatment by Daniela Ochoa, M.D., breast surgeon in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Breast Surgical Oncology in the UAMS College of Medicine; Issam Makhoul, M.D., director of the UAMS Division of Hematology/Oncology and associate professor in the College of Medicine; and Loverd Peacock, M.D., radiation oncologist in the Cancer Institute and faculty member in the Department of Radiation Oncology in the College of Medicine.

“They were my guardian angels,” said Guiden. “I was placed in the midst of three great doctors who made me feel so special that no one could have ever convinced me that I wasn’t their favorite patient.”

Ochoa said the whole-team approach is one of the benefits to breast cancer treatment at UAMS.

“We have specialists who practice only in breast cancer — from radiologists and oncologists to geneticists, pathologists and behavioral health specialists,” said Ochoa. “We have team members who work closely in managing breast cancer patients and are able to provide a consensus opinion, and our patients benefit from that.”

A few days after her diagnosis, Guiden received her port for chemotherapy treatment. The first series of treatment lasted 12 weeks. In the three-week hiatus between her first and second rounds of chemotherapy, she took another cross-country bus trip. This time to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

She began her second round of chemotherapy the day after she returned and completed it just before Thanksgiving. On Dec. 27, she had a lumpectomy, a surgery to remove the tumor, performed by Ochoa. Then she received radiation treatment for five weeks from Peacock.

Throughout her treatment regimen, Guiden says she relied on her faith, family, friends and fellow church members at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Little Rock for support.

There was her Sunday School teacher who gave her a scripture after her diagnosis, Psalms 117:17-18, that she carried with her daily; countless prayers with her Sunday School class; her two sisters and a close friend who stopped by often to help with household chores and cooking; her son who did yard work; and her brothers who helped make sure she didn’t miss a family reunion gathering.

“I was surrounded by a wonderful group of people that supported me,” she said.

In May, one year after her diagnosis, Guiden had another mammogram performed. She was cancer free. Guiden could barely contain herself when she saw Ochoa following the exam.

“I just grabbed her and almost picked her up off the floor,” she said. “I was so happy to have the relief. There was quite a bit of anxiety prior to the mammogram because you don’t know what to expect or what will be there.”

Ochoa said Guiden’s story conveys the importance of monthly self-examinations.

“I’ll often hear patients say they don’t know what they’re feeling for, but the idea is to be familiar so something new will stand out and feel different. The monthly interval is important because it’s enough of a timeframe that you’ll notice a difference if it occurs.”

Looking back, Guiden sees that importance, too.

“It’s so important to do self-exams,” she said. “If I had done that, I would have found this sooner, but I stopped. That was the culprit, me not taking stock in myself and my well-being.”

Filed Under: Cancer Featured Stories, Patient Stories, UAMS News Tagged With: Arkansas hospitals, Daniela Ochoa, Issam Makhoul, Josephine Guiden, Loverd Peacock, UAMS, UAMS College of Medicine, UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

Claudia Barone, D.N.P., Ed.D, Invested in Nicholas P. Lang, M.D., and Helen F. Lang, R.N., Endowed Chair

June 15, 2017 | Claudia Barone, D.N.P., Ed.D, a professor in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing, was invested June 13 in the Nicholas P. Lang, M.D., and Helen F. Lang, R.N., Endowed Chair.

Barone, a nationally known expert in tobacco cessation and a leader in academic nursing, was first invested in 2015 as the inaugural holder of the Lang Professorship. The professorship was elevated to an endowed chair through additional gifts from the Langs and others. The chair will support Barone’s continued work in tobacco cessation.

An endowed chair is established with gifts totaling at least $1 million, and it is one of the highest academic honors a university can bestow on a faculty member. The endowed chair provides funding in perpetuity to support the educational, research and clinical activities of the chair holder. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, physicians and professors in their fields of expertise.

“Endowed chairs are game changers in that they provide the chair holder with the time and financial resources needed to pursue educational excellence, world-class patient care and outstanding health care research,” said Patricia A. Cowan, Ph.D., R.N., dean of the UAMS College of Nursing. “Dr. Claudia Barone is a superb educator, clinician and researcher. We’re especially pleased to celebrate the vital advances in tobacco control that will unfold through her investiture in this endowed chair.”

The chair is named for Nicholas P. Lang, M.D., former chief medical officer for the UAMS Medical Center, and his wife, Helen F. Lang, R.N., a longtime nurse in the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

Barone was presented with a commemorative medallion by Cowan.

“This chair will allow me to explore some of the challenges in smoking cessation that we’ve identified over the last seven years,” said Barone.

She is widely known for her work in tobacco cessation and has received several grants in the area, and she is working with an interprofessional group of health care providers on tobacco cessation and control. Barone is a certified tobacco treatment specialist through the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Tobacco Treatment Research and Training.

Barone was an appointed member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee from 2014-2015 and the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence from 2013-2016. Barone served on the Arkansas Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2015 and was vice chairperson from 2013-2015.

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1983 at Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, and her Master of Science in Nursing in 1988 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. She completed her Doctor of Education in 1996 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and her Doctor of Nursing Practice in May at UAMS.

Barone is a former dean of the College of Nursing, serving in the role from 2006-2011. Barone is now a tenured professor in the College of Nursing and an advanced practice partner in the UAMS Center for Nursing Excellence.

She came to UAMS in 1988 as a clinical nurse specialist in the UAMS Medical Center’s surgical division. In 1991, she became a clinical instructor in the College of Nursing. In 2002, she was named interim associate dean for the master’s program and served from 2003 to 2006 as associate dean for academic administration.

The Langs received the College of Nursing Dean’s Award during the investiture ceremony. The award recognizes individuals who have contributed to the growth of the College of Nursing.

“I’ve been humbled by the generosity and support provided to the College of Nursing by our friends and alumni who help us meet our mission in education, research, practice and service,” said Cowan. “The Langs are tremendous friends of the college and epitomize the type of the involvement we value. We’re delighted to honor them with this award.”

Nicholas and Helen Lang retired in 2014, but their health care careers crossed four decades before that. They met in 1977 in an operating room at the Veterans Administration hospital in Little Rock. They married two years later.

Nicholas Lang earned his medical degree at UAMS in 1973 and completed his residency at UAMS and the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in Little Rock. He completed a fellowship at the Laboratory of Immunodiagnosis at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

He joined the UAMS College of Medicine in 1990 as a professor in the departments of Surgery, Radiology, and Physiology and Biophysics. He served as chief of staff at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System from 2001-2007. In 2007, he became chief medical officer for UAMS Medical Center and continued in that position until his retirement.

Helen Lang earned an associate degree in nursing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1975 and worked at various hospitals in the Little Rock area and at a VA hospital in Washington, D.C. In 1980, she returned to the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in Little Rock and worked as a surgical nurse in general surgery, cardiovascular surgery, surgical endoscopy and urology until her retirement.

In 2009, Nicholas Lang honored his wife with a gift to establish the Helen F. Lang, R.N., Scholarship in the UAMS College of Nursing. In 2014, it reached full endowment.

Filed Under: Cancer Featured Stories, News Release, UAMS News, University News Tagged With: Arkansas hospitals, Claudia Barone, Helen Lang, Nicholas Lang, Nicholas P. Lang and Helen F. Lang Endowed Chair, Patricia Cowan, UAMS, UAMS College of Nursing

Study Shows Chemotherapy Induces Cellular Aging, Which Promotes Side Effects, Cancer Relapse

Jan. 17, 2017 | Chemotherapy for cancer causes a pro-inflammatory stress response that promotes adverse side effects and cancer relapse, says a research team that includes the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Daohong Zhou, M.D., associate director for basic research in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, is a co-author of the study published Dec. 22 in Cancer Discovery.

While chemotherapy is often a life-saving treatment for some cancer patients, it affects both healthy cells and malignant cells throughout the body, often causing debilitating side effects, including fatigue.

The study shows that chemotherapy induces cellular senescence — or cellular aging — in normal tissues, which triggers a pro-inflammatory stress response and promotes the adverse effects of chemotherapy as well as fatigue and cancer relapse and metastasis. Eliminating the senescent cells in mice prevented the side effects and cancer relapse and metastasis.

“One of the side effects of chemotherapy is bone marrow suppression, which can lead to reduction in blood cell production and contribute to chemotherapy-induced fatigue,” said Zhou, also a professor of pharmaceutical sciences and deputy director of the Division of Radiation Health in the UAMS College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. “Eliminating senescent cells can promote bone marrow recovery after chemotherapy.”

Judith Campisi, Ph.D., of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, was the senior scientist on the study, which highlights the dual nature of cellular senescence — it permanently stops stressed cells from dividing, but also contributes to aging and late-life cancers.

“We are excited about the potential applications of this work,” said Campisi. “It would be a huge benefit if we could reduce the risk of cancer relapse and metastasis in patients. We also think it would be great to mitigate the other side effects of chemotherapy, the fear of which sometimes keep patients from seeking treatment.”

The research was led by Marco Demaria, Ph.D., a former postdoctoral scientist in the Campisi lab. The research utilized transgenic mice that permit tracking and eliminating senescent cells. Results showed that eliminating chemotherapy-induced senescent cells reduced several short-and long-term effects of treatment, including bone marrow suppression, toxicity to the heart, cancer recurrence and metastasis, and physical activity and strength. Common chemotherapy drugs Doxorubicin, Paclitaxel, Temozolomide and Cisplatin were used to treat the mice.
Demaria, who is now a principle investigator at the European Institute for the Biology of Aging at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, said some of the most striking results involved running speed – an indicator of fatigue in mice.

Eliminating senescent cells was sufficient to almost entirely rescue remedy the decline in physical activity in the treated mice, Damaria said. “Normally, mice spend 40 percent of their time running. After chemotherapy that activity dropped to 10 percent. When we knocked out the senescent cells the mice returned to normal running.”
“Fatigue, which can be long-lasting, is a big deal for patients on chemotherapy,” said Norman E. Sharpless, M.D., director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a co-author of the study. “Years later they often say that was the worst part of the treatment.”
In addition, Sharpless looked at blood markers of cellular senescence in 89 women with breast cancer before they underwent chemotherapy aimed at curing their disease. Women who went into chemotherapy with the most senescent cells experienced the most debilitating fatigue after treatment, he said.

Other co-authors from Zhou’s lab at UAMS include Mr. Jianhui Chang and Dr. Lijian Shao.
Citation: Cellular senescence promotes adverse effects of chemotherapy and cancer relapse DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-16-0241
The work was supported by grants from the American Italian Cancer Foundation and the National Institutes of Health grants AG009909, AG017242, AG041122 and CA122023
Campisi and Zhou are co-founders of Unity Biotechnology, which is developing drugs to eliminate senescent cells. Sharpless and Demaria have equity in the company. Sharpless is a founder and has a financial interest in HealthSpan Diagnostics. Mitin is an employee of HealthSpan Diagnostics. All other authors declare no financial interests.

 

Filed Under: Cancer Featured Stories, News Release, University News Tagged With: Arkansas hospitals, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Cancer Discovery, Cisplatin, Daohong Zhou, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Radiation Health, Doxorubicin, Judith Campisi, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Marco Demaria, Norman E. Sharpless, Paclitaxel, senescence, Temozolomide, UAMS, UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of North Carolina

June O’Keefe Named UAMS Cancer Institute Volunteer of the Year

Nov. 29, 2016 | For more than nine years, June O’Keefe has quietly made a difference in the lives of Arkansas’ cancer patients.

Her efforts were recognized Nov. 17 when she was named Volunteer of the Year by the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Auxiliary.

“June is always upbeat, outgoing and has a wonderful smile. Her fellow volunteers love working with her, and the patients look forward to seeing her regularly. She truly is a pleasure to work with and brightens our days,” said Janie Lowe, director of the Cancer Institute Department of Volunteer Services and Auxiliary, which presents the annual award.

O’Keefe has logged more than 3,000 volunteer hours in her nine years of service. She assists weekly in the waiting rooms, leads the Sit and Knit group, and participates in the Care Caps group.

Sit and Knit meets at 1:30 p.m. each Wednesday in the Patient Support Pavilion to knit and crochet hats for UAMS patients who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment. Care Caps meets at 9 a.m. on the fourth Monday of each month at the Family Home, located across the street from UAMS, to sew hats for cancer patients at UAMS and across the country.

The Family Home is a nonprofit facility that provides affordable housing for patients at the UAMS Cancer Institute and parents of infants in the UAMS Medical Center neonatal intensive care unit. It also houses the Cancer Institute’s Cancer Support Center. For information about participating in either group, contact the Cancer Institute Department of Volunteer Services and Auxiliary at (501) 686-8286.

The Cancer Institute Auxiliary has about 500 members, more than half of whom volunteer on a regular basis in the waiting areas and gift shop or help with special events throughout the year.

Funds raised by the auxiliary are distributed as grants benefiting cancer patients at the Cancer Institute and in northwest Arkansas. Kimberly Pickett is auxiliary president.

Filed Under: Cancer Featured Stories, UAMS News, University News Tagged With: Arkansas hospitals, Janie Lowe, UAMS, UAMS Cancer Institute Auxiliary, uams family home, UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute LogoWinthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer InstituteWinthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
Address: 449 Jack Stephens Dr., Little Rock, AR 72205
Parking Deck: 4018 W Capitol Ave., Little Rock, AR 72205
Appointments : (501) 296-1200
Referring Physicians: (501) 686-6080
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