Health Topics

Research In Radiation Therapy

Andrew Schorr:

Dr. Rockhill, let’s talk about where things are headed in research. So you have the Gamma Knife, you have new approaches to external radiation, we talked about this whole investigation of whether you could implant radiation and would that be a good idea. Where are we with getting better in your field?

Dr. Rockhill:

In terms of radiation it’s still going to come down to targeting. How are we going to predict what the best area is to target with the most appropriate dose? I’m actually working with one of my colleagues in the Department of Pathology and Mathematics who has been working on a mathematical model for gliomas, in other words predicting the rate at which they’re going to grow, and what we want to look at is first of all how does radiation change that rate because we have statistics that are based on everybody but what would be the impact for a single individual, and then can we look at different ways of targeting or delivering the radiation that may impact one patient in a different way than another based on their own tumor growth.

Andrew Schorr:

We talk all the time on Patient Power about personalized medicine, so it sounds almost like personalized radiation oncology and not based on just where the tumor is or how large it is but watching the response and making adjustments over time.

Dr. Rockhill:

Ultimately that would be the goal, and this is kind of a, as opposed to a lot of other approaches, this is a macroscopic approach. The end result is what we see on the MRI scan. Dr. Swanson is taking this approach of let’s look at the macroscopic impact on what we see on the MRI and see if we can work backwards. We also start looking at genetic changes that might predict who is going to be a better responder or not, but unfortunately a lot times these tumors are quite heterogeneous. They can have quite a few different factors that may impact how they grow.

Andrew Schorr:

Okay, Jill, you and I listen to this as people who in our case are both in western Washington. This is the big university and to hear Dr. Rockhill talk about it he definitely sounds like a university guy doing research. Would you say that you are now glad with a life-threatening condition that you ended up there where not only have they brought this very significant team together but where they’re studying it and trying to improve the care all the time?

Jill:

I feel very fortunate that we live literally in the same neighborhood as what’s going on in cancer research and certainly brain tumor treatments. I know when we were first diagnosed we had, both my husband’s family and my family are both in Minnesota within two hours of the University of Minnesota as well as Rochester Mayo Clinic, and there was certainly a question at one moment in time where we thought well if we have to travel there or to the east coast somewhere or whoever we did research on and found did a better job we would go there, and that never became an issue. We felt very secure in our choice to stay here locally, and I think the people that I’ve met along the way have come from far distances to come and get this treatment. So the fact that we’ve got a 20-minute drive to get to see and be with this level of treatment we just feel very fortunate. We would have gone to the ends of the Earth had we needed to, but it was not necessary.

Andrew Schorr:

That’s so neat. Jill, I have another question for you. When you were having the terrible like 2 weeks of pain that you thought was migraine and you went to the emergency room, and you told me the story or how you were throwing up and it was really terrible but was it migraine; you and your husband I know probably then felt pretty alone.

Jill:

Correct.

Andrew Schorr:

And now Dr. Rockhill has described this whole team. Now I know you have family support and friends and a wonderful community but as far as the medical side, do you feel alone anymore?

Jill:

Not anymore, no. I told my husband, I said, I think we need to get mileage reimbursement from our insurance company because of the amount of time I drive back and forth between all my appointments at UW. I said I think there’s not a week that goes by where I’m not there 2 to 3 times a week, and there all for different kinds of appointments. I think the people in the parking lot know me by name practically or they certainly know my face, and the reception people know me by name and face, and no, definitely not alone.

Andrew Schorr:

And you feel supported?

Jill:

Yes.

Andrew Schorr:

Good for you. Dr. Rockhill, so I know it’s great to have someone as positive as Jill with us today, and I know it gives you energy for what you’re doing. Brain cancer has been a tough go. Are you hopeful? You’re working on it, the mathematical model, you have colleagues at the UW and around the country working on this. Maybe someday there will be a breakthrough but even if not do you feel you can keep advancing it so that people like Jill can look forward to more good time and hopefully like she said if she has a recurrence maybe it’s 30 years from now?

Dr. Rockhill:

Definitely, definitely. We’re always hopeful. As long as there are options, as long as we can come up with something else, there’s always reason for hope, and that’s what’s one of the real exciting things about working in a university setting and especially here is somebody’s always coming up with something new that we can look at that, different ways to think about it. This whole team, everybody is motivated to say what else can we do to make it better whether it’s from a different chemotherapy agent, different way to deliver the radiation and even different surgical techniques to even the more important or just as equally important how can we make somebody function better while they’re dealing with this.

Andrew Schorr:

And everyone in the different specialties you’re talking to one another, and I think that’s a great thing because there is tremendous power in that.

Dr. Rockhill:

Right. A lot of times we’re in the room all together. You’ll see all three of us or at least two out of the three if not more talking with patients together going over the options.

Andrew Schorr:

Jill, so I’m going to let you have the last word, and that is this; so there’s somebody listening to our program where they or a family member who was just diagnosed with a brain cancer and they are terrified as you were, your husband, your family. What a shocker. I know just from my diagnosis of leukemia.

Now nobody knows what the journey is ahead, and you’ve had lots of things, brain surgery and chemotherapy and radiation a number of times, and you continue to go through therapy, but you’re pretty upbeat. What would you say to them to just give them some encouragement?

Jill:

I think one of the most important things that worked for me throughout the course of this treatment was allowing people to help me. I’m kind of a stubborn individualist, and I want to do it myself, and I think I can take care of this myself, and I found myself just to the point of where it was necessary to have family, friends, neighbors, church members, school, PTA friends, you name it, sign up to bring meals to help support the family, offering to come in and clean my house for me, praying for me, sending me notes, sending me e-mails, and my husband’s, his support person at his office set up a website for me where literally there was a calendar that people could sign in and say I’m going to bring a meal this night, and people could also sign up to drive me to my radiation treatments because I was unable to get myself there and home. I was just too ill at that time to take care of myself. So five days a week I had people stepping forward and bringing me to my treatments, and there were days, I kid you not, where I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed except for the fact that usually my doorbell would ring at about 9:15 in the morning with somebody out of the goodness of their heart standing there saying are you ready to go? And they would drive me to my treatment and they’d sit and wait for me in the waiting room, and they’d drive me home and “is there anything you need?” Well, yes, I need a case of soda for my stomach, and we’d stop at a grocery store, and they’d run in and they’d get me my soda. I could not have done it without the love and care of my community, and the community I never knew was as big as it was.

Andrew Schorr:

If only you’d just let them in.

Jill:

If only I had let them in, yes, exactly. On my website I got e-mails from people pretty much worldwide that knew somebody that knew somebody that knew somebody, and they just wanted to touch base and say I’m thinking about you, I’m praying about you, I hope for the best for you, and I didn’t realize that, I don’t want to say that I touched that many people’s lives, but I think it’s a ripple effect.

Andrew Schorr:

Yes it is. Well I see a parallel in what Dr. Rockhill does with the medical team at UW, the power of all these people coming together, and your community as well.

Jill:

Yes.

Andrew Schorr:

And it’s really great to have all of that on your side.

Dr. Jason Rockhill at the Radiation Oncology Department at UW Medicine, I want to thank you for what you do. Jill, I know you want to thank him too and wish you and your colleagues there at UW Medicine, Dr. Rockhill, all the best. And Jill Peterson, so you’re off to Hawaii with the family?

Jill:

Absolutely.

Andrew Schorr:

And hopefully those MRIs just stay clear and clear and clear and clear.

Jill:

Yes.

Andrew Schorr:

And that’s our wish for you, and we want to thank you for being with us today on Patient Power.

Jill:

Thank you.

Andrew Schorr:

I’m Andrew Schorr and I want to thank the University of Washington and UW Medicine for of course their work in this area and for connecting us with such great people like Dr. Jason Rockhill in radiation oncology and Jill Peterson.

Remember, knowledge can be the best medicine of all. Thanks for joining us.

Please remember the opinions expressed on Patient Power are not necessarily the views of UW Medicine, their staff, or Patient Power sponsors, Patient Power partners or Patient Power. Our discussions are not a substitute for seeking medical advice or care from your own doctor. Please have this discussion you’re your own doctor, that’s how you’ll get care that’s most appropriate for you.