Stony Brook University Cancer Center specialists shared their knowledge with the community on the latest advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of colorectal, lung, ovarian and other cancers that afflict millions each year at the “Spring Update” educational event on March 22. Whether the 175 plus individuals came to understand more about prevention or new medical technologies at Stony Brook, the community found the event informative and inspirational.
Attendees learned about targeted treatment approaches, new research, and use of emerging technologies at Stony Brook Medicine that are paving the way for better diagnostics and therapies. For example, they heard about how clinical trials for cancers of the blood have transformed treatments leading to cures, why genetic findings point to hereditary risks for breast and ovarian cancers, how a virtual colonoscopy is used to detect colon cancer early, and why use of a simultaneous PET-MRI at Stony Brook, the only one on Long Island, helps cancer specialists better detect cancer, assess stage of disease, and enhance surgical planning.
“Stony Brook cancer researchers and clinicians are generating new knowledge and using technologies to drive our cutting-edge treatments against cancer,” said Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, Director of the Stony Brook University Cancer Center, Vice Dean for Cancer Medicine, and the Joel Strum Kenny Professor of Medicine. “We developed this open forum to further educate the community about cancer, provide a venue for them to meet our doctors and staff, ask questions, and let them know the Cancer Center is here for them.”
“Some of the sessions included information about how our genetics and lifestyle habits can both contribute to developing cancer,” said Josh Shi, 56, of Stony Brook, who was most interested in cancer prevention and early detection due to his family’s history of cancer.
“The more we know about cancer and what is new with treatments, the more we are ready to fight it and understand what our doctors are talking about,” said Anna Nawrocki, 48, of Mount Sinai, an ovarian and breast cancer survivor who has been treated by Stony Brook’s gynecologic and breast cancer multidisciplinary treatment teams since her first diagnosis in 2007.