Beyond the Standard of Care: Treating Young Adult Patients With Cancer

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Shane Dormady, MD, PhD, medical director of El Camino Health Cancer Center, explains the modern paradigm shift in cancer treatment that he uses to both treat and reassure young adult patients diagnosed with cancer, sharing a personal anecdote demonstrating the success of this approach in a patient.

Watch part 1 and part 2 of Dr Dormady’s interview.

Dormady believes that viewing each cancer diagnosis as a “doom and gloom” scenario is outdated, thanks to advancements in precision medicine such as molecular profiling. Looking optimistically toward the potential of these new advancements, Dormady encourages his patients to remain hopeful, even when facing difficult prognoses. He emphasizes that there is always hope, and that treatment strategies are becoming increasingly precise and effective. He likens treating cancer to a chess match, requiring constant strategic adaptation.

“We are really just in a chess match with the cancer. When the cancer moves this way, we have to immediately establish a counter move in the other direction, and we play that game indefinitely,” Dormady explained in the interview.

This intervention strategy is exemplified by a young man in his 30s with a complicated case of testicular cancer, treated by Dormady and his team. Following chemotherapy and surgery, Dormady’s team analyzed the patient’s tumor cells for biomarkers and identified a medication that could directly target his cancer, leading to the patient achieving complete remission for 20 years. Dormady often relays this story to his other younger patients to make them aware of the options available through precision medicine.

Dormady acknowledges the emotional difficulty in oncology of delivering bad news to patients. The key takeaway for colleagues treating this patient group is to adopt an active, aggressive approach to treating cancer, leveraging molecular profiling and immunotherapies to go beyond the standard of care.

Read the full interview here.