Young Cancer Patient Inspires Hope
Annual Report 2011 : Knowledge Is Power
Cancer treatment opens new vistas for teenager
A youth symphony violinist, first-chair trumpet player in his high school band, varsity cross-country runner and stellar student with an affinity for physics, Shane Leonard didn’t have cancer on his busy agenda.
Shane Leonard shared his cancer journey with members of the MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors at their annual meeting in 2011. Photo: Pete Baatz
Then, he was diagnosed with the disease the summer before his senior year.
He noticed a lump on his neck’s left side two years before being diagnosed. At first, he thought it was from excessive violin playing. Still, his parents took him to five doctors before the rare diagnosis was finally confirmed: adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary gland.
It’s so rare, in fact, that MD Anderson had only seen six comparable cases in the past 40 years.
Successful surgery at the children’s hospital near Leonard’s hometown of Colorado Springs, Colo., revealed that the cancer had wrapped itself around the gland’s edge. Follow-up radiation was recommended. Yet, given the tumor’s precarious location, there were concerns about preserving Leonard’s ability to speak, swallow and taste.
The right treatment
After careful research, Leonard and his family opted for proton therapy — an advanced type of radiation that uses a proton beam to deliver therapy directly to the tumor, destroying cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. Under the care of Steven Frank, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Leonard spent the summer at MD Anderson. He received 33 rounds of treatment.
“One of the ways I’d cope with the treatment was to read books about physics or watch a series of quantum mechanics lectures I found online,” Leonard says.
With this insatiable thirst for knowledge, he also became fascinated with the massive 200-ton gantry rotating around him.
Leonard’s summer in Houston meant turning down a prestigious engineering internship. When his treatment team learned of this disappointment, they arranged for him to spend time with the center’s senior medical physicist, learning about proton’s precision firsthand. This furthered his desire to pursue a scientific career.
“When I think about my experience, it isn’t about cancer or my side effects. It’s about the people I’ve met and the chance I’ve been given to learn from adversity,” Leonard says. “These opportunities wouldn’t be something I’d normally experience. Cancer has helped me re-establish my priorities and be more content in everything I do.”
More Stories From Annual Report
Going deep into the science of improvement
New-generation research strives to achieve best value for cancer care
Quality improvement touches employees at all levels
Ibi Opuiyo gives little credence to the word “unfixable.”
Expanding hope
For the past 15 years, Bill Hyslop’s world has revolved around quality — and numbers.
Project helps underserved in quitting smoking
“Do you smoke cigarettes now?” is an important question.
Institutional Review Board ensures patient safety
In 2004, James Yao, M.D., learned that one patient can open a whole new world of possibilities.
ICU team takes ventilator-associated pneumonia down to zero
When Joseph Nates, M.D., joined MD Anderson’s faculty in 2002, he discovered a high incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Regional care centers add surgery
As he ends each week traveling from Katy to the Bay Area to care for his patients, Richard Ehlers, M.D., never loses sight of his calling.
Screening reduces lung cancer-related deaths
Reginald Munden, M.D., sees a light at the end of the tunnel with the release of the findings of the National Lung Screening Trial.
How one survivor copes with side effects
The mirror is not always a glowing reflection of one’s self. For Jason Cox, there was a point when he didn’t even recognize himself.
Pathologist a role model for high school students
Breast Pathologist Aysegul Sahin, M.D., loves to share her knowledge and experiences with young people. The benefits are far from one-sided, she believes.
ASPIRE
A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience
Junior faculty benefit from experienced scientists
After more than 15 years of submitting grants, Khandan Keyomarsi, Ph.D., knows what it takes to be successful. It’s this knowledge that led her to develop a program geared toward junior faculty, so they would know, too.
Health care in the community church
Cancer Prevention Researcher Lorna McNeill, Ph.D., has embarked on an important ministry.
Student benefits from mentoring
Andria Schibler hopes the yeast she uses every day will do much more than make bread dough rise. Her ultimate goal is to help improve leukemia patients’ survival.
The physical expression of a vision
Facilities focus on meeting needs of patients, visitors, employees
Completion of 1MC fulfills Mendelsohn’s dream
The towering new building anchoring MD Anderson’s Mid Campus resembles a ship with its prow facing the Texas Medical Center.
More patient beds, a firm foundation
It was all part of the initial plan. When architects, engineers and construction workers returned to
MD Anderson’s Alkek Hospital in 2007, the foundation was in place.
New research facilities move patients closer to promising therapies
Advances in cancer detection and treatment will materialize rapidly in the coming decade thanks to the convergence of genome analysis, advanced imaging and the development of targeted therapies at MD Anderson’s South Campus Research Buildings III and IV.
Designers listen to end users
If you had to design a space that appealed to a 5-year-old as well as a 25-year-old, what would it look like?
Endowment will help children affected by cancer for years to come
When it comes to philanthropy, there are myriad ways to make a difference.
Volunteer couple shares gifts of time and money
He’s often on the golf course and you can find her riding a bike, but Twilight and Marc Freedman become a pair when they volunteer at MD Anderson.
Elementary school students learn tradition of giving
Pennies on Monday, nickels on Tuesday, dimes on Wednesday, quarters on Thursday and counting on Friday.
Texas 4000 — the ride to raise research dollars
Don’t underestimate college kids. Each summer, about 50 students from The University of Texas at Austin saddle bicycles and ride for 70 days from their central Texas campus to Anchorage, Alaska.