4 Innovative Treatments That Helped Patients Conquer Cancer

Cooling Cap Helps Mom Go Through Chemotherapy Without Losing Hair
Once a week, for 12 weeks, Jennifer Buckland would pull a hockey-like helmet over her strawberry-blonde hair, and tigthen the chin strap. Only then, would chemotherapy treatment for Stage 1 breast cancer begin at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center. Jennifer, 42, donned the unusual “cooling cap” headgear for as many as eight hours at a time –before, during and after her treatments –in an effort to stem a common side effect of chemo: alopecia, or hair loss. And it worked.

Immunotherapy Triggers New Lease on Life for Lung Cancer Patient
After doctors diagnosed Bill Smith with Stage 4 lung cancer, he wasn’t sure if he would live past one year. Two Gamma Knife brain surgeries, an orthopedic surgery, radiation and countless rounds of chemotherapy later, Bill had survived five years, but was miserable and extremely fatigued. Bill’s physician, Dr. Nathan Pennell, suggested a form of immunotherapy, designed to stimulate Bill’s immune system and teach it how to fight back and destroy the cancer.

Rare Surgery After Cancer Saves Young Boy’s Leg
Cleveland Clinic doctors diagnosed 8-year-old Liam with an aggressive form of bone cancer in his left femur called osteosarcoma. Dr. Michael Joyce told Liam’s parents an operation called rotationplasty was Liam’s best shot at beating the disease and being active again. The procedure involves amputating part of the leg above the knee, while saving the nerves and vessels. The surgeon then reattaches the limb so the foot acts as the ankle. See the strides this second grader has made with his new limb.

Mom is Cancer-Free After Breakthrough Gene Therapy Treatment
Mary Beth Zolik underwent CAR T-cell therapy at Cleveland Clinic to treat lymphoma. One month after her treatment, the cancer –the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma –was completely gone. Mary Beth’s cancer is in complete remission following participation in a multicenter clinical trial of a cell-based gene therapy to treat adults with certain types of large B-cell lymphoma who have not responded to or who have relapsed after at least two other kinds of treatment.

Related cancer research stories:

• Timing of Melanoma Diagnosis, Treatment Critical to Survival: A Cleveland Clinic study underscores the importance of early detection and treatment of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The research, published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, indicates the sooner patients were treated, the better their survival, particularly for stage I melanoma.
• Cleveland Clinic Research Links Breast Cancer to Bacterial Imbalance: Cleveland Clinic researchers have uncovered differences between the breast tissue of healthy women and women with breast cancer. Charis Eng, M.D., Ph.D., co-senior author of the study and chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Institute says, bacteria that live in and on the body are known as the ‘microbiome.’ Previous research on the gut microbiome has shown when this system gets out of balance, it becomes easier for disease to grow. See what this means for the future of breast cancer tretament.