When I was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer about 12 years ago, I sought treatment for it in Anchorage, the biggest city near my home in rural Alaska.

But when I was diagnosed with desmoid tumors earlier this year — an aggressive type of growth that develops in the connective tissues — I went straight to MD Anderson.

Why? Because my local surgeon said that in his 17 years of practice, he’d never even seen one before...