Dr. Mark A. Westcott - YES Beat Liver Tumors

2011 is quickly disappearing! From YES to you we are
wishing you and yours a very HOPEful and Happy
2012!
Resolutions for the
New Year
As the wonderful New Year begins we plan to keep you
informed about upcoming events, news, and activities
on the horizon. You will find awareness, support,
motivation, inspiration, and FRIENDS for the Journey
as we share our knowledge and understanding of
cancers of the liver and make a road often hard to
travel easier to navigate. YES welcomes you to join us
in our efforts to make a difference. Your suggestions
for stories, articles, and questions are greatly
appreciated. If you are in need of brochures and
information packets about YES, or a Survivor Bag,
please let us know by email at
info@beatlivertumors.org
The dawn of a New Year often propels
us to make resolutions for the coming
year. This calendar change provides
the perfect opportunity to make a fresh
beginning but for those of us living with
cancer, the New Year can evoke a
number of feelings ranging from the
relief of seeing another year to the
anxiety of establishing goals. The
following tips were given to me a few
years ago and have helped me to keep
my resolutions simple:
DONATE
DONATE
Remember, your donations make deLIVERing Hope
possible. Please consider making a recurring monthly
donation. Just $10.00 will provide a Survivor Bag!
Dr. Mark A. Westcott
Dr. Mark A. Westcott is giving patients
who have faced the hopelessness that
comes with a diagnosis of liver tumors
a reason to smile once again. Dr.
Westcott is an interventional radiologist
at Lenox Hill Hospital, which is part of
the North Shore-Long Island Jewish
Health System. He has been using an
innovative procedure to attack cancers
of the liver called radioembolization, a
therapy that uses yttrium-90
microspheres to directly target liver tumors while sparing
healthy liver tissue.
Continued on page
Focus on an enjoyable activity, not a
specific outcome.
Set goals that are comfortable and
reasonable for you.
Don’t overload yourself or your
schedule.
Make short term goals that will lead up
to those that are long range.
Tell others of your goals so that they
can help with inspiration and
motivation.
Keep a daily log or diary.
Practice your plan because practice
makes perfect.
Make your resolution a habit and begin
each morning with the same resolve.
Reward yourself when a goal is met!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
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Westcott continued from page 1
During the procedure, millions of microscopic radioactive spheres are sent directly to the site of the liver
tumors. This targeted therapy allows doctors to treat the tumors with 40 times more radiation than the
conventional radiation. Radioembolization, also known as SIRT, minimizes the harmful effects of
radiation to healthy tissue surrounding the tumors.
Dr. Westcott helped to organize The Liver Seminar for patients at Lenox Hill Hospital, bringing together
a multidisciplinary team of experts, and shared with attendees this exciting procedure. He is bringing
the treatment to the forefront. Dr. Westcott relays that he has seen the need for SIRT grow from one
procedure per month to four per month.
“You have to be careful with cancer patients because not every patient is a candidate for SIRT,”
Westcott said. He explained that the liver must be working well and the patient must be performing well
with their day to day living, adhering to a positive attitude and hopeful for a successful outcome.
Ronald Anthony, a private nursing assistant and resident of New York was diagnosed with primary liver
cancer in September, 2011. He says that since the beginning of his fight he has had an inspiring medical
team, full of hope and options. He received Nexavar as first line treatment and then met Dr. Westcott
and was told about Yttrium-90 Microspheres. Since Ron had multiple liver tumors, the combination of
Nexavar and radioembolization offered a one-two punch!! Dr. Westcott performed Ronald’s first
treatment October 21, 2011 and at Thanksgiving he received the good news that his tumors were
shrinking!
Ron says, “What can I say about Dr. Westcott? Other than being a gifted physician, he is a phenomenal
human being. Going into treatment is like being in the hands of a trusted friend; not only one that is able
to help but one who truly cares. God Bless him! I am thankful for his skills and knowledge!”
Dr. Westcott graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame. He attended Georgetown
University Medical School and trained in diagnostic radiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in
Chicago. He completed a fellowship in interventional radiology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
in Philadelphia. He is board certified by the American College of Radiology in diagnostic radiology and
interventional radiology.
In 1996, Westcott earned a Certificate of Added Qualification in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology.
He has been in practice since 1994 and joined Lenox Hill Hospital in the spring of 2002.
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Page - 2 - of 8
Jean DiCarlo Wagner
Miriam and I became friends through Suzanne. Miriam 'knew' me
because she told me that she 'listened to me every night before
she went to bed'.
Suzanne had given Miriam a "Yoga for Cancer Survivors" CD that
I made after my own cancer experience in 2003. I wanted to give
other warriors a tool for healing. It had taken me three years to
make the music for the original CD, find a recording artist, and
save the money to produce the first 1,000 Yoga for Cancer
Survivors CD. Suzanne makes sure they get peppered around
the world; she takes them on her travels. Suzanne also gives
them out as part of her YES welcome package.
Miriam and I became instant friends. We talked about my next goal, translating the YCS CD into Spanish.
Miriam is a native Spanish speaker and she vowed to help in any way she could. In February 2011, while
lobbying with YES on Capitol Hill, a plan was hatched. Marilyn Vicens, an angel, close friend of Miriam,
and a professional translator, offered to translate the 80 minute English CD into Spanish! Miriam
volunteered to record the Spanish version because she knew it inside out and, her voice is angelic.
It was a labor of love for Miriam's family, who helped her find a recording artist who spent two days
recording the Spanish Yoga for Cancer Survivors CD. Miriam's daughter, Marlina, helped coordinate her
friends, support her mother and it became a family affair! I spoke with Miriam a week before she earned
her wings. I assured her that her work would touch many people around the world. She had used some of
her last physical energy to complete the CD. Miriam sent me the digital version, and I could listen to the
CD, seeped in love and tenderness. You don't have to speak Spanish to know Miriam's intention. Those
of us that got to know Miriam, carry her work and her message forward. She was a determined
perfectionist, but wrapped in the most gentle and spiritual soul. A complete person - one who is balanced,
knows themselves, gives to others from a depth of richness, and the brightest soul whose Light cast peace
and healing.
Through Miriam's friends, I have raised $1,055.00. The CD will need some recording balancing, and some
redoing of the front and back cover to be 'user friendly' to Spanish speakers. The Spanish Yoga for
Cancer Survivors CD's will need to travel from my home in San Diego, to Puerto Rico, where Marilyn will
give them to the Cancer Center where she volunteers, and where Miriam spoke about the SIR SPHERES
treatment which extended her life.
Oh, YES, Miriam was quite an advocate! The YCS Spanish CD's will travel to Brazil, Mexico, NYC, and
any place where we have a contact that will distribute them to survivors.
It's going to cost more than the English CD's to produce, duplicate and ship. If you can skip a latte' and
donate, we will move more quickly to fulfill Miriam WIsh.
Yoga for Cancer Survivors
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YES Exhibits at The Liver Meeting
in San Francisco, California
For the second year in a row, YES exhibited at The Liver
Meeting®, organized by the American Association for Liver
Diseases. The meeting was held November 4-8, 2011 in
San Francisco, California. We deLIVERed Hope and
information to the attendees about the support services that
YES offers. 5000 “bee bands” were distributed along with
1000 information packets. YES members in attendance
were Ronnie and Suzanne Lindley, Bryan MacLeod and
Clinton MacLeod, and Baylah David.
Especially important for YES was the debut of our new
display and signage. “Hope in the Sand” was shared with
the hepatology specialists and autographed by experts from the field attending from every corner of the
world! Some even wanted pictures in front of the display and others offered to help us translate our website and message into different languages
including Spanish, German, French, and
Japanese!! We’ll see where our fabulous
connections lead.
More than 7,000 hepatologists and hepatology
health professionals came to the meeting and
were able to exchange the latest liver disease
research, treatment outcomes, and surveillance
methods with their international colleagues.
Attendees shared groundbreaking basic,
translational and clinical research in diseases – including cancer - of the
liver and biliary tract, and in liver transplantation. This meeting created a forum for the presentation and
interchange of o pinions on state-of-the-art care and management of the full spectrum of patients with liver
disease. Overall goals and objectives included understanding new evidence and articulating how it might
improve clinical care goals; understanding how new advances might advance and broaden research
discoveries; voicing how the new knowledge impacts post-transplant.
Kudos to The Liver Meeting in it’s 63rd year!
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By Tami Thennis
A misty morning does not signify a cloudy day.
-Ancient Proverb
Dreams are necessary to life.
- Anais Nin
And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that
count. It’s the life in your years.
-Abraham Lincoln
Be present – it is the only moment that matters.
-Peaceful Warrior
Never let your memories be greater than your
dreams.
-Doug Ivester
What a new face courage puts on everything! Ralph Waldo Emerson
At first dreams seem impossible, then
improbable, then inevitable.
-Christopher Reeve
If you have built castles in the air, your work
need not be lost; that is where they should be.
Now put foundations under them.
-Henry David Thoreau
Remembering you are going to die is the best
way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have
something to lose. You are already naked. There
is no reason not to follow your heart.
-Steve Jobs
Your goals are the road maps that guide you and
show you what is possible for your life.
-Les Brown
All great changes are preceded by chaos.
-Deepak Chopra
A person can grow only as much as his horizon
allows.
-John Powell
Yttrium-90 Studies Show
Promising Results in the
Treatment of Liver Cancer
Dr. Daniel Sze professor of interventional radiology at
Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford,
California, USA states, “Results of these two new
studies may be beneficial to patients with liver tumors
that cannot be surgically removed. These studies
address methods to modify the blood vessels of the
liver in order to maximize delivery of tumor-killing
material to the targets and to make treatment simpler
and safer,” he added.
One study showed promising results in a group of 35
patients in whom the “thirsty tumors” had recruited
blood vessels from outside the liver, a situation that
interferes with complete delivery of Y-90 microspheres
to the tumors, explained Sze. “These ‘parasitised’
blood vessels were successfully closed off before
administration of Y-90 microspheres, reestablishing
the blood supply from within the liver to enable the
successful delivery of the microspheres to the targeted
tumors,” said Sze.
“While large, multicentre studies will be necessary to
further confirm the proof of the concept, it is notable
because the Stanford University researchers
investigated the idea of simplifying blood supply in
order to permit a direct injection of microspheres into
the tumor,” said Salem.
“Blood supply to tumors can be complex and can
present challenges for interventional radiologists,” said
Riad Salem, who wrote an accompanying commentary
in JVIR. “This research advances the field and
provides information that is immediately applicable to
all interventional radiologists when treating their
cancer patients,” said Salem, professor of radiology,
medicine and surgery and director of Interventional
Oncology, Division of Interventional Radiology, in the
Department of Radiology at Northwestern University in
Chicago, Illinois, USA. “Such research allows
interventional radiologists to tailor treatments to help
even the sickest patients achieve a better quality of
life,” he explained.
In “Toxicities following radioembolization with yttrium90 sir-spheres: incidence and contributing risk factors
at a single center,” Thomas Jefferson University
researchers examined the results of liver function tests
from 29-571 days following treatment in 81 patients
who received 122 Y-90 infusions to treat primary or
metastatic liver tumors.
Continued on page 7
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Liver Seminars Series Continues!!
Since September, “The Liver Seminar” has traveled to three more states. In collaboration with YES!
Beat Liver Tumors nurses, physicians, and hospitals have helped to continue the inspiring and educational
liver seminar series being held around the country. Each informational session combines the expertise of a
multidisciplinary team that discusses surveillance methods, clinical trials, chemotherapeutic and biologic
options available for cancers of the liver and how those treatments can be accentuated by surgical
approaches or through liver-directed therapies such as Radio Frequency Ablation, TACE, and
Radioembolization or Selective Internal Radiation Therapy. Suzanne Lindley shares her journey with
cancer and the importance of self-advocacy as well as the many patient support options and resources that
YES! Beat Liver Tumors provides. Local survivors are also there to discuss their treatments and
experiences and the medical team interacts in an open forum of discussion.
The first of these stops was Lenox Hill Hospital on October 19, 2011. With Dr. Mark Westcott at the
helm, an elite team of physicians was assembled. Dr. Lynn Ratner, Oncology Education coordinator at
Lenox Hill Hospital, started the discussion on emerging biologics and chemotherapy. Dr. Paresh Shah,
Program Director for the Department of Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital took the floor next. He presented an
inspiring talk about the surgical options and techniques that are available to patients and how these
approaches may be augmented both by chemotherapy and liver directed therapies. Dr. Westcott closed
the meeting with a hopeful discussion about interventional radiology and the various liver directed
treatments, such as TACE and SIRT, which can be used in a multidisciplinary setting. In an unusual turn
of events, four ocular melanoma survivors were in attendance and Elaine Levine, who was one of the four,
shared her experience with radioembolization and triumph over liver tumors. Ronald Anthony,
hepatocellular cancer survivor, was also in attendance with his wife Carmen. He received treatment the
next day and was inspired by the discussion and hope that emanated throughout the room.
October 24, 2011 the ever fabulous Bonita Jones, RN, organized and pulled together “the dream
team” of experts at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. This marked the
second annual seminar at this location and was again a robust and exciting meeting. The seminar
explored cutting edge treatments for cancers of the liver and gave hope to those diagnosed with liver
tumors. Attendees were able to learn more about available treatment options and resources. The dream
team included dialogue from Dr. David Wood, Chief of Interventional Oncology at Banner Good Samaritan
Medical Center; Dr. Jeffrey Brink, Transplant Surgeon at Arizona Transplant Associates; Dr. Sucai Bi,
Medical Oncologist at Internists Oncologists, LTD; and Dr. John Kresl, Radiation Oncologist at Phoenix
Cyberknife. In addition to organizing the meeting, Bonita shared her personal story with cancer. Two
survivor speakers returned this year. Marilyn, a carcinoid survivor, and Gordon, a liver cancer survivor,
shared their inspirational and incredible stories of survival and were joined by other survivors in a candid
and empowering forum.
“The Liver Seminar” made a final stop of the year in Fairfax, VA at Life with Cancer in collaboration
with Inova Health System on November 15, 2011. Dr. Alain Drooz spearheaded this phenomenal group
of physicians who included medical oncologist, Dr. Raymond S. Wadlow, from Virginia Cancer Specialists,
PC, surgical oncologist Dr. James B. Piper, from Inova Transplant Center, and interventional radiologist Dr.
Alain T. Drooz, from Fairfax Radiology Consultants. This multidisciplinary team of professionals shared
how important it is to work as a team to accentuate treatments, extend longevity, increase options, and
improve quality of life. Carcinoid survivor Ranjana Sagar, having just returned from an overseas vacation,
underwent two SIRT procedures in 2011 after her carcinoid cancer spread to her liver. The treatment
shrunk her liver tumors and the Fairfax resident is currently receiving monthly chemotherapy treatments to
control her tumor growth. Ben Basloe from Fight Colorectal Cancer (fightcolorectalcancer.org) attended
and left information for attendees. After the meeting, physicians and survivors answered questions,
shared journeys, and mingled.
Page - 6 - of 8
YES! Beat Liver Tumors took advantage of a fabulous opportunity to
raise awareness on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 16 - 17, 2011 at the
5th Annual ECO Emmy’s Celebrity Chateau.
“We have had such an exciting year with events from Washington,
D.C., to Los Angeles educating audiences on the treatment options
and support available for patients with liver tumors,” said Suzanne
Lindley, co-founder and executive director of YES! who herself is living
with terminal cancer. “We are excited to have had the opportunity to
share our message with such an influential audience at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards.”
Lindley and YES! members Pam and Jerry Schmid, Bryan MacLeod, Ruth and Paul Caudle, and Roger
Slagle attended Debbie Durkin’s ECO Emmy exclusive pre-event celebrity chateau and provided
awareness materials to each guest in the highly anticipated gift bags. “Hope in the Sand” photos from
patients around the globe were available for viewing and celebrity signing. Celebrity greats that signed the
ECO Emmys “Hope in the Sand” photo included Debbie Durkin, Penny Marshall, Caroline Hennessey, and
The Glee Club as well as many others. Hope was also written in rose petals at the historic Beverly Hills
mansion. It was soon discovered that everyone who came through had either been touched by cancer
personally or knew someone that had.
Awareness efforts touched all those who came to the prestigious ECO Emmy gifting suite and far beyond
through media outreach – reaching millions. LA Splash, Hollywood Life, EC Plaza, Causecast, Cure
Today, and LIFE are just a few of the publications that shared articles about the mission to ensure that
cancer patients receive information, resources, and support to help them say YES to hope!
Studies continued from page 5 “Radioembolization with resin microspheres is a safe treatment for patients with
unresectable, or inoperable, hepatic malignancies,” concluded Daniel B Brown, an interventional radiologist and chief
of interventional radiology and interventional oncology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, USA.
“More than 90% of the individuals in our study who received infusions showed no, or few, changes in liver function.
And, generally speaking, almost all patients receiving Y-90 infusions to treat primary or metastatic liver tumors were
asymptomatic after treatment,” he added.
“Studies such as these allow interventional radiologists, whose hallmark is minimally invasive, targeted treatment of
disease, to tailor treatments to help even those who are not candidates for surgery live longer and achieve a better
quality of life,” commented, Ziv J Haskal, JVIR editor-in-chief, professor of radiology and surgery at the University of
Maryland School of Medicine and vice chair of strategic development and chief of vascular and interventional
radiology, image-guided therapy and interventional oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore.
Page - 7 - of 8
NEWS TO USE
Toll Free SURVIVOR Line:
Our toll free Survivor Line provides an outlet for patients and concerned others. It is a place to
access resources, advocacy, and support regarding treatment options for cancers of the liver.
You can also receive information on how to become a part of our survivor support program,
"FRIENDS for the Journey."
Call 1-877-937-7478
Survivor Support Program:
We offer a unique survivor mentoring program called "FRIENDS for the Journey" that matches
survivors, caregivers, family and friends who are going through a similar experience.
Comparing options is a vital way to maintain a positive outlook. FRIENDS can communicate via
phone, email, snail mail, or in person.
YES! Beat Liver Tumors
791 Arnold Paul * Canton, Texas 75103
877-937-7478
info@beatlivertumors.org
www.beatlivertumors.org
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