UAMS College of Medicine

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.”

Patient Searches Nation, Finds Best Cancer Care at UAMS

Oct. 20, 2016 | When Don Marshall, 58, was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he wanted to make sure he received the best possible care. He was considering traveling to California for treatment until he realized there was a state-of-the-art facility in his own backyard.

One year ago, Marshall went to a routine physical examination for an insurance company. The health care professional noticed his PSA (prostate specific antigen) test showed a higher than normal number, which is an indicator of possible prostate cancer.

“They had to do further tests. They eventually took a biopsy and found out that I was positive for prostate cancer.”

Marshall says he did what most people today would do: searched the web for articles and information to learn more about prostate cancer. He talked to several doctors about the treatment options he found available.

“I found out that proton therapy seemed to be the best out there and according to my research a facility in California was the place to go for the best treatment,” Marshall said.

Proton therapy treatment involves using a focused ray to destroy cancerous tissues while causing less damage to healthy surrounding tissues.

Marshall soon discovered that his insurance would not cover the cost of his treatment in California.

“I was going to find a way to pay and go anyway,” he said. “Because this is about my health.”

It wasn’t until he was on the phone with a health care professional at a Louisiana facility when he found out about a very similar treatment known as TomoTherapy. TomoTherapy combines intensity modified radiation therapy with the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) scanning. The radiation beams are targeted precisely to the tumor on any given day and produce less harmful side effects than conventional radiation treatments.

Marshall said he had not heard about TomoTherapy until then and began reading about it.

“I immediately called UAMS and set up an appointment. I met with Dr. Peacock. I really liked him. He reassured me that you couldn’t go wrong with this type of radiation therapy.”

Loverd Peacock, M.D., is a radiation oncology professor in the UAMS College of Medicine. Board certified in internal medicine and radiology, Peacock is also a charter member of the Board of Directors for the Mid-South Division of the Arkansas Cancer Society.

Marshall came to the Radiation Oncology Center at UAMS every morning for 45 days. He says he couldn’t be happier with his results.

“The visits took about 15 minutes. It was painless.”

Marshall’s PSA test is normal and the cancer is gone. He says he feels better now and definitely recommends screening.

“A lot of people are afraid of what they are going to find. I’m the opposite; if there’s something wrong I want to find out what it is as soon as possible. The disease is there whether you want to know about it or not. You may as well catch it early when it’s easier to treat.”

Internationally Known Physician-scientist to Chair Radiation Oncology at UAMS

LITTLE ROCK — Fen Xia, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., an internationally recognized radiation oncologist and physician-scientist, is joining the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology in the College of Medicine.

Xia, who will join the faculty on July 1, 2016, currently serves as a tenured professor and director of translational research in radiation oncology at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. She specializes clinically in radiation treatment of central nervous system benign and malignant tumors. Her research focus is in DNA damage response and repair and the impact of these processes on genomic stability, aging, carcinogenesis, tumor response and normal tissue injury in cancer treatment.

“Dr. Xia will be a tremendous asset to our educational, research and clinical enterprises,” said Pope L. Moseley, M.D., UAMS Executive Vice Chancellor and College of Medicine Dean. “She brings considerable expertise and oncologic leadership to our team and will also be invaluable as the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute prepares to apply for designation as a National Cancer Institute-designated center.”

Xia received her medical degree at Suzhou Medical College in Suzhou, China, in 1983 and a Master of Science in radiation toxicology at Suzhou in 1986. She received her doctorate in cancer biology in 1996 at Harvard University, where she also completed postdoctoral training. Xia completed her radiation oncology residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, becoming one of the few physicians in the nation to earn an R01 research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during residency training.

After her residency Xia served on the faculty of Vanderbilt’s departments of Radiation Oncology and Cancer Biology for five years, directing the Central Nervous System Clinic for 15 months prior to her recruitment to Ohio State in 2011. She was promoted to tenured professor at Ohio State and named director of translational research in radiation oncology in 2014.

Xia has remained continuously funded with multiple R01 grants since her residency training. She is also the principal investigator on an established investigator-initiated clinical study of cancer predictive biomarkers and novel therapeutic strategy. Xia is a charter member of an NIH/National Cancer Institute (NCI) study section and has served on many other national and international grant review sections for funding organizations.

Xia serves as editor, associate editor and editorial board member for several scientific research journals. She also serves on the American Board of Radiology/Radiation Biology and is active in the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Science Council’s Research Evaluation Committee and ASTRO’s Research Direction Committee. Other recent national posts include the scientific program committees of the American Association for Cancer Research and the Radiation Research Society.

Xia has mentored many successful undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, medical students and residents, and junior faculty members.