UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

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.”

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.

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.

Radiation Effects Expert Martin Hauer-Jensen Invested in J. Thomas May Distinguished Endowed Chair in Oncology

Sept. 1, 2016 | The family of the late William E. “Bill” Clark has given $300,000 to establish a distinguished endowed chair in honor of J. Thomas May in which world-renowned radiation effects expert Martin Hauer-Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., was invested Aug. 29 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Hauer-Jensen, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences, surgery and pathology, is director of the Division of Radiation Health in the UAMS College of Pharmacy.

A distinguished endowed chair is the highest academic honor a university can bestow on its faculty and is established with gifts of $1.5 million or more to support the educational, research and clinical activities of the chairholder. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, physicians and professors in their fields of expertise.

The J. Thomas May Distinguished Endowed Chair in Oncology was funded by the family of Clark, who was chairman and CEO of CDI Contractors in Little Rock, to honor his friend May, former CEO of Simmons First National Corp.

“The Clarks’ generous gift ensures that UAMS can continue providing the highest quality oncology physicians and researchers in Arkansas. Bill Clark and Tommy May share a legacy of dedicated service,” said UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D. “Their friendship is a wonderful testimony to the importance of relationships and the power of two friends sharing a common goal to improve the future of health care for others.”

An endowed chair was established in 2006 with $1 million from Bill and Margaret Clark. Bill Clark died of cancer one year later. The initial investment grew by $200,000 over the last decade. In June, Margaret Clark, and her son, William E. Clark II, chairman of the UAMS Foundation Fund Board, gave another $300,000 to elevate the chair to a distinguished endowed chair. It is the first distinguished endowed chair for a faculty member of the UAMS College of Pharmacy.

“We thank the Clark family from the bottom of our hearts for this additional gift. This will benefit our oncology program from now on into the future,” said Peter Emanuel, M.D., executive director of the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.

Bill Clark, a former member of the UAMS Foundation Fund Board, became friends with May when the two served together for nine years on the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. “It was a friendship like I’d never seen before,” Margaret Clark has said.

A resident of Pine Bluff, May has an extensive background in civic and community service, for which he has received numerous awards, and served on the UAMS Department of Psychiatry capital campaign steering committee. He holds an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

In addition to Rahn, Emanuel and William E. Clark II, speakers at the ceremony included Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., UAMS provost and chief academic officer; Keith M. Olsen, Pharm.D., dean of the College of Pharmacy; and James W. Hardin, Ph.D., chief scientific and administrative officer for SunEcoEnergy Inc., who formerly worked with Hauer-Jensen at the UAMS Cancer Institute. University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt, Ph.D., was also in attendance.

Hauer-Jensen was presented with a commemorative medallion by Rahn and Olsen.

“I thank the Clark family and Tommy May for making this distinguished endowed chair possible, and Peter Emanuel for organizing it. I am looking forward to working with Dean Olsen to enhance the competitiveness of the Division of Radiation Health,” Hauer-Jensen said.

“None of this would be possible without my family,” he continued. “I’ve had many long nights, many business trips, and many weekends that I could not be with them, and I give them my sincere, heartfelt thanks.”

Gardner, who was dean of the College of Pharmacy when Hauer-Jensen was recruited, praised his leadership and his work mentoring a new generation of researchers. “I have been looking forward to this day for almost a decade,” Gardner said. “Martin’s strong leadership and vision are what draw people to this division. He’s not just an internationally recognized scientist; he’s a visionary, a mentor, a leader, and a coach.”

Hauer-Jensen is an internationally recognized authority on normal tissue radiation responses. His research focuses on determining mechanisms of injury and developing strategies to prevent adverse effects after radiation therapy in cancer patients, to make radiation therapy for cancer safer and more effective.

He joined the UAMS faculty in 1990 to launch a career in academic surgery. In 2008, Hauer-Jensen moved from the College of Medicine to the College of Pharmacy and was appointed associate dean for research and director of the newly formed Division of Radiation Health in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Hauer-Jensen is president of the Radiation Research Society and serves on numerous national and international advisory boards, review panels and editorial boards.

At UAMS, he co-leads the Host Response and Radiation Sciences program at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. He has been chair of the Radiation Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, a consultant on radiological emergencies to the World Health Organization, and a member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements.

He has published more than 250 scientific papers and has received peer reviewed research funding for more than 20 years. He is the recipient of the coveted MERIT Award from the National Cancer Institute.

Now Cancer-Free, Nurse Regrets Skipping Colonoscopy

March 28, 2016 | As a nurse, Beverly Seaberg spends her time at work caring for patients. As a wife and mother, she also makes sure her husband, John, and two daughters, Cori and Caroline receive the best health care possible. Seaberg, 58, is an R.N. in the Quality Management department at UAMS. She has worked as a nurse for 35 years. Seaberg had a clean bill of health and is generally very good about taking preventive health measures.

“I got a mammogram, a pap smear, my teeth cleaned,” Seaberg said. “I took my husband to get his colonoscopy, carried my daughters to the doctor and even took the dogs to the vet.” When she turned 50, the nurse scheduled herself a colonoscopy. “I ended up canceling that appointment,” Seaberg said. “Now I can’t even remember why.”

Five years later, September 2013, Seaberg began experiencing abdominal pain and loss of appetite. She went to her primary care physician thinking it was a bladder infection. By November, her symptoms worsened and her doctor ordered a CT scan. “The scan came back showing I had a mass in my colon. That’s when I found out I had colon cancer and needed surgery.” Seaberg has no family history of colon cancer.

While she knew the importance of colonoscopies, Seaberg says the thought of being diagnosed with colon cancer was never on her radar. The diagnosis left her feeling sad, blindsided and angry at herself. “The look on my family’s faces when I told them was almost unbearable,” she said. “Because I knew this could have been prevented if I’d had my colonoscopy. I hated to put them and myself through such anxiety.”

Jason Mizell, M.D., is a colorectal surgeon at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. He says the earlier colonoscopy almost certainly would have prevented the cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends most men and women start undergoing colonoscopies at age 50. Those at high risk for colon cancer or experiencing symptoms such as rectal bleeding, anemia or a change in bowel habits may be advised by their doctor to receive the test earlier. One of the benefits of an academic medical center like UAMS is the physicians and staff are able to provide total comprehensive care in one location at one time.

Based on the results of her pre-operative testing, it was determined Seaberg would need a team of physicians to perform a complex operation involving a colorectal surgeon and urologist, with likely an oncologist to give chemotherapy after surgery. Seaberg knew she was in the right place to appropriately treat her cancer. Seaberg says her team of physicians was both very compassionate and caring. “I let my patients know that I’m concerned about them as a whole person, rather than just their disease process,” Mizell said. “I genuinely care about them all and they can trust they’re getting state-of-the-art high quality care right here at UAMS rather than having to travel out of state to another institution.”

“UAMS has been very good to me as an employer and as a patient. I’m thankful to have the Cancer Institute 20 minutes away from my home,” she said. Seaberg had her surgery nearly two weeks later. It was a complex operation involving removal of the colon tumor, with a portion of her bladder as well because of the large nature of the tumor.

Her surgery went well with good results, and she started chemotherapy in January 2014. The treatment lasted six months. Her message to those she meets who express anxiety or hesitation about getting a colonoscopy is clear: It can save your life. “I know people get anxious,” Seaberg says. “But all it takes is about a day of your time. It took me several months to fight for my life after my cancer diagnosis. If you have symptoms, don’t ignore them. If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your loved ones.” Today, Seaberg is back at work full time. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and volunteering in the UAMS ICU.

Ten-year-old Donates Birthday Money to Cancer Institute

March 17, 2016 | Ten years ago, Lennon Tusieseina had just entered the world. Meanwhile, a team of doctors at UAMS was saving his grandfather’s life. Earlier this year, they saved his uncle, too. Lennon wanted to give something back.

Toting a jar one-third his size stuffed with dollar bills, 10-year-old Lennon recently took his birthday money to the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. He had asked his friends to give money to donate instead of gifts.

It just seemed like the right thing to do. “I wanted to be a part of helping people,” he said. “I wanted to see my uncle standing up again.”

His uncle, Samuel “Tommy” Braswell, is still recovering at home. But the day was definitely a family affair, with grandparents John and Rebecca Foster, parents Linsay and Siona Tusieseina, and brothers Foster, 11, and Ryder, 7, all present and accounted for.

Peter Emanuel, M.D., and Mauricio Moreno, M.D., were there to welcome them. While the adults exchanged hugs and pleasantries, the three brothers amused themselves with a game of hide-and-seek around the Cancer Institute’s main lobby.

Moreno, a head and neck surgeon in the UAMS Department of Otolaryngology, had performed a 10-hour surgery on Braswell just two months earlier. He remembers the family and their dedication well, and was impressed by Lennon’s generosity.

“I was asking how this started, and basically it was his own initiative,” he said. “It’s pretty humbling to some degree to see a 10-year-old come up with that. Very impressive.”

Braswell was diagnosed with oral cavity cancer late last year.

“It all happened really quick,” said Linsay Tusieseina. “His throat was hurting for about a month, and then he went to the doctor. They found it pretty early.”

Because the cancer was close to his jawbone, it needed to be removed, along with a few of his teeth. His jawbone was replaced with a titanium rod. A piece of an artery, veins and tissue from Braswell’s forearm were used to cover the area where the cancer was removed.

“And he got stitches,” said Lennon, who was sporting three small stitches of his own near his left eye. A pick-up basketball game had ended when he collided with a chain-link fence.

Now recovering at home, Braswell is cancer-free. “All the scans are clear and good,” said Tusieseina. “We were very thankful that Dr. Moreno was able to get it all so that no chemo or radiation was necessary.”

Lennon’s grandfather, John Foster, was diagnosed in 2006 with tongue cancer. His wife, Rebecca Foster, is a nurse at UAMS and was working in the Cancer Institute at the time.

“I was shaving and felt a little lump, but I didn’t really think anything about it,” he said. “It never went away, so I asked my wife about it. She said I needed to go to the doctor.”

He had a biopsy right after Labor Day weekend and was treated with radiation and chemo. Brendan C. Stack Jr., M.D., Anne Marie Maddox, M.D. and José A. Peñagarícano, M.D., were his doctors. Foster has been in remission now for 10 years.

“I had total confidence in my doctors,” he said. “I never really worried. There’s no way to really thank people for saving your life.”

But Lennon still wanted to say thank-you. His jar full of dollar bills, $399 in total, will go directly to the Cancer Institute to help patients like his grandfather and uncle.

“I have 10 more dollars left to bring,” he said. “I left it at home.”