Making news across the country
Here are just a few examples of how City of Hope has been making news across the country:
Jennifer Gotto, M.D., chief of psychiatry in the Department of Supportive Care Medicine, was interviewed by KABC-TV in Los Angeles for “An Eyewitness News Special: the ABC’s of Women’s Health.” Gotto discussed depression, including its symptoms, links to factors such as a cancer diagnosis, and treatment options. The segment aired in October 2008.
Robert Figlin, M.D., the Arthur and Rosalie Kaplan Professor of Medical Oncology and interim cancer center director, was interviewed by KABC-TV about a National Institutes of Health report showing a 30-year decline in rates of new cancers and cancer deaths. KABC-TV also interviewed a City of Hope patient for the story, which aired in November 2008. Figlin also was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times about the data.
Dirk von Rensburg, a longtime City of Hope platelet donor, and Gay Almquist, director of City of Hope’s Blood Donor/Apheresis Center, were interviewed by KABC-TV. Less than 72 hours after losing his home and all of his possessions in Southern California wildfires, von Rensburg kept his appointment to donate platelets at City of Hope. His story, which aired in December 2008, highlighted the importance of platelet donations to patients’ recovery and survival following cancer treatment.
George Somlo, M.D., appeared on a KCBS-TV news broadcast in Los Angeles on Feb. 4 in a story about a collaborative study between Stanford University and City of Hope published in the journal Nature. The study examined properties of breast cancer stem cells that make them resistant to radiation therapy. Cancer stem cells are responsible for cancer’s recurrence after treatment. The researchers ultimately hope to develop a treatment strategy that can overcome the cancer stem cells’ resistance and reduce the risk of relapse.
Lawrence Weiss, M.D., chair of pathology, was quoted in the March 10 edition of The New York Times about genetic testing to help determine the origins of hard-to-identify cancers. Identifying the origin of a cancer is important to providing effective treatment, especially when cancer has spread widely. Weiss discussed published data on the success of the genetic test, the only one currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. He also described immunostaining, a process that may help characterize about two-thirds of hard-to-identify cancers.