Three oncologists join expanding cancer initiative
by Toni Baker
Three cancer specialists joined the MCG faculty in January to help develop focused treatment and clinical research programs in areas such as breast and prostate cancer and to further refine patient care delivery.
Dr. Thomas A. Samuel, who came to MCG from Temple University/Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia where he was associate director of the hematology/oncology fellowship program, specializes in breast and lung cancer.
Dr. Teresa A. Coleman, a 1992 graduate of the MCG School of Medicine who worked previously at Phoebe Cancer Center in Albany, Ga., and Bowman-Gray Cancer Center in Wake Forest, N.C., returns to MCG to focus on prostate, bladder and kidney cancer.
Dr. Paul A. Bilodeau, an internist in Augusta before completing a hematology/oncology fellowship at MCG and beginning a 16-year practice with Augusta Oncology Associates, P.C., is medical director of MCG Health System’s Cancer Center.
“They come with a clearly defined agenda,” said Dr. Anand P. Jillella, chief of the MCG Section of Hematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation. “No cancer center can have regionally or nationally recognized programs in every discipline, so we are focusing our efforts by recruiting faculty with a passion for treating certain cancers.”
“MCG has identified cancer, a major cause of illness and death in this state, as a focal point for clinical and research activities,” said Dr. Steve Schwab, interim dean of the MCG School of Medicine. “Critical pieces are coming together. Dr. Jillella has assembled a strong frontline that will drive clinical initiatives. We are in the final stages of recruiting a director for our new Cancer Research Center, scheduled to open in March, who will drive research initiatives. It’s an exciting time.”
Other recent recruits include Dr. Celalettin Ustun, an expert in leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and transplantation, who starts March 1 after completing a three-month fellowship at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Dr. Kavita Natarajan, an expert in bleeding and clotting disorders, joined the faculty in November.
“We now have 12 clinical faculty who specialize in specific cancers and blood diseases, such as sickle cell disease,” said Dr. Jillella. “We will watch our growth over the next year and make strategic decisions on future growth. We also will work closely with our colleagues at the new Cancer Research Center to expedite translation of new discoveries into better cancer treatment.”
The opportunity for such collaborations attracted Dr. Samuel. “One of the great advances in oncology I would say over the last 10 years is that we have come up with targeted therapies. Instead of the bazooka approach to breast cancer, we are using the sniper approach where we are just killing breast cancer cells as opposed to breast cancer cells and everything around them. Trying to minimize side effects, such as hair loss, nausea and vomiting, I think is going to be the next big thing. Doing research in that, I think, is exciting,” said Dr. Samuel.
Dr. Jillella’s direction is exciting as well, he said. “He is a man with vision and I think that is important in having a section chief who is committed to a cancer center philosophy, where the physicians are tumor-focused, meaning we are not all general oncologists.”
Dr. Samuel’s mother, who began a battle with breast cancer about eight years ago, helped him find one clinical focus. The relative lack of attention given to lung cancer made him want to zero in on it as well. “Part of that is the stigma that lung cancer is self-induced. That kind of mindset has led to less research being done on it,” Dr. Samuel said. Survival rates have improved but are not good. “Rates for advanced lung cancer are less than two years; we are moving the field though.”
Despite the fact that prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men, it has gotten little attention as well, said Dr. Coleman. “We need to do better. People who have metastatic prostate cancer have very few options after they exhaust hormonal therapy.” She wants to help change that by enrolling patients in studies exploring new options, such as pairing biological agents with standard therapies. She and Dr. Martha Terris, urologist at MCG and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center who also specializes in prostate cancer, already are working to bring more of these innovative studies to patients at both hospitals.
Within her first week of arrival, Dr. Coleman was submitting studies to the Human Assurance Committee. “The answer in prostate cancer is going to be much like it is in breast cancer, much like it is in leukemia,” she said. “You have to figure out the biologics of what makes it cancerous and stop it.
“I am very excited to be here,” said Dr. Coleman, whose enthusiasm is palpable. “This was always my dream job,” she said of coming back to her alma mater.
Dr. Bilodeau is experiencing a bit of a homecoming as well. He enjoyed his lengthy, successful private practice just down the road. But the opportunity to help develop a cancer center attracted him to MCG. “It’s obvious the institution has a commitment to oncology that is substantial and serious,” said Dr. Bilodeau.
He too will identify a clinical focus, but now he is concentrating on working at the Cancer Center and seeing how it works for patients. “Cancer is a terrible disease and the process of being treated doesn’t have to make it worse. All of us who surround the cancer patients need to be thinking about what they are going through … and as we take care of them, that we are smiling and helpful.”
So far, he likes much of what he has seen at MCG. “The people here really love what they do and they are committed.”
| SAVE THE DATE! The MCG Cancer Research Center is slated to open in March. Details are in the making for a March 10 ribbon-cutting celebration. Stay tuned to the Beeper and www.MyMCG.edu for more information. |