Cancer Warriors Armed with Hope

Jenny Chang, M.D., offers uninsured women at the Ben Taub Breast Clinic access to advanced treatments that are also offered to her private sector patients.

She is every poor and working woman. She is the strong breadwinner, the backbone and the nucleus of her family. Treatment can't slow her down. Personal health isn't the only thing on her mind. Often, a young son or daughter acts as translator and is the only one there to hold her hand during appointments and treatments.

And she would not receive top notch care for her breast cancer without the collaboration of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine, the Harris County Hospital District and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Every Wednesday, from noon until 5 p.m., Jenny Chang, M.D., Yee Lu Tham, M.D., and Mothaffar Rimawi, M.D. (who are assistant professors doing advanced study in breast disease) and a handful of nurses and other medical personnel provide treatment to at least 50 of these underserved, uninsured and economically disadvantaged women whose only source of care is Ben Taub, a public hospital that is the cornerstone of the Harris County Hospital District. The second floor Ben Taub clinic is one of the few public breast cancer clinics in the nation.

"Our patients in the Harris County Hospital District are amazing women who need and deserve the best care and treatment possible," said Chang. "By treating women at Ben Taub we are trying to reach out to the entire community to eradicate this deadly disease."

The clinic's patients often do not realize they have cancer until late in their disease. They face a 10 percent higher risk of dying from their breast cancers than do their wealthier and insured counterparts, who have access to the private health care system. Advanced breast cancer is less often treated successfully than that which is found early, before it has spread.

Most public hospitals have general cancer clinics that treat all types of the disease, but Ben Taub Breast Clinic patients receive care from Baylor College of Medicine physicians at one of the few specialized public breast oncology clinics in the country. That makes treatment easier to accept. At Ben Taub, breast cancer patients wait together in the waiting area and can support one another.

Through the Ben Taub Breast Clinic, Dr. Chang reaches women like Georgina Sanchez who would not otherwise have access to specialized care.

Nurse practitioner Liz Michael is on call to make sure that the more than 2,000 patients treated for breast disease and breast cancer at Ben Taub each year receive continuity of care. Their physicians treat only breast cancer. Most importantly, patients have access to the most advanced treatment options through clinical trials—patient-centered studies of the newest drugs, surgeries and other treatments.

"We see effective medicines in clinical trials today that won't be available to everyone for another five years," said Angel Rodriguez, M.D., Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Oncology Fellow. One of his patients, whose breast cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes, took part in a clinical trial of a new drug that caused her residual breast cancer to disappear.

Chang, who is also Medical Director of the Smith Breast Center at BCM, said that access to clinical trials gives her patients the option of receiving the most advanced treatment in the world. The clinic's goal, she said, is to offer the same, if not better, treatment than that given to women in the private sector.

Chang tells her patients that they are front-line soldiers in the battle to eradicate breast cancer. They come from all racial and ethnic groups, and the studies in which they take part help to delineate the delicate differences among patients that will determine who responds to a treatment and who does not.

That gives her patients a glimmer of hope. Maybe one of the new drugs being tested will prove a cure—not only for the patients in the study—but also for thousands of other women in the future.

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Volume 4, Issue 1, Summer 2008


	Cancer Warriors Armed with Hope by Kimberlee Barbour Jenny Chang, M.D., offers uninsured women at the Ben Taub Breast Clinic access to advanced treatments that are also offered to her private sector patients. Who is the typical patient at the Ben Taub Breast Clinic? She is every poor and working woman. She is the strong breadwinner, the backbone and the nucleus of her family. Treatment can't slow her down. Personal health isn't the only thing on her mind. Often, a young son or daughter acts as translator and is the only one there to hold her hand during appointments and treatments. And she would not receive top notch care for her breast cancer without the collaboration of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine, the Harris County Hospital District and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Every Wednesday, from noon until 5 p.m., Jenny Chang, M.D., Yee Lu Tham, M.D., and Mothaffar Rimawi, M.D. (who are assistant professors doing advanced study in breast disease) and a handful of nurses and other medical personnel provide treatment to at least 50 of these underserved, uninsured and economically disadvantaged women whose only source of care is Ben Taub, a public hospital that is the cornerstone of the Harris County Hospital District. The second floor Ben Taub clinic is one of the few public breast cancer clinics in the nation. "Our patients in the Harris County Hospital District are amazing women who need and deserve the best care and treatment possible," said Chang. "By treating women at Ben Taub we are trying to reach out to the entire community to eradicate this deadly disease." The clinic's patients often do not realize they have cancer until late in their disease. They face a 10 percent higher risk of dying from their breast cancers than do their wealthier and insured counterparts, who have access to the private health care system. Advanced breast cancer is less often treated successfully than that which is found early, before it has spread. Most public hospitals have general cancer clinics that treat all types of the disease, but Ben Taub Breast Clinic patients receive care from Baylor College of Medicine physicians at one of the few specialized public breast oncology clinics in the country. That makes treatment easier to accept. At Ben Taub, breast cancer patients wait together in the waiting area and can support one another. Through the Ben Taub Breast Clinic, Dr. Chang reaches women like Georgina Sanchez who would not otherwise have access to specialized care. Nurse practitioner Liz Michael is on call to make sure that the more than 2,000 patients treated for breast disease and breast cancer at Ben Taub each year receive continuity of care. Their physicians treat only breast cancer. Most importantly, patients have access to the most advanced treatment options through clinical trials—patient-centered studies of the newest drugs, surgeries and other treatments. "We see effective medicines in clinical trials today that won't be available to everyone for another five years," said Angel Rodriguez, M.D., Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Oncology Fellow. One of his patients, whose breast cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes, took part in a clinical trial of a new drug that caused her residual breast cancer to disappear. Chang, who is also Medical Director of the Smith Breast Center at BCM, said that access to clinical trials gives her patients the option of receiving the most advanced treatment in the world. The clinic's goal, she said, is to offer the same, if not better, treatment than that given to women in the private sector. Chang tells her patients that they are front-line soldiers in the battle to eradicate breast cancer. They come from all racial and ethnic groups, and the studies in which they take part help to delineate the delicate differences among patients that will determine who responds to a treatment and who does not. That gives her patients a glimmer of hope. Maybe one of the new drugs being tested will prove a cure—not only for the patients in the study—but also for thousands of other women in the future.		Search all issues: Best Minds Best Medicine BCM Campaign Seeks to Raise $1 Billion Attracting Stars: McNairs Give $100 Million To Recruit Top Scientists Lester and Sue Smith Gift Tackles Breast Cancer in the Clinic and Lab Two Alumni Share Commitment to Scholarship Support Features Taking Personalized Medicine to New Heights Creating Culture While Building Walls Changing Complexion of Medicine Spotlight Click for your Doctor: New eVisits Trade Exam Room for Inbox Kjersti Aagaard: 2007 Winner of NIH New Innovator Award Getting World-Class Breast Cancer Care...With or Without Insurance James Lupski's Tenacity Founds New Field of Genomic Medicine Briefs BCM Named National Diabetes Research Center DeBakey Takes the Gold The Trash is no Place for Expired Medication Removing Brain Tumors Through the Nose SPORE Spawns New Lymphoma Efforts The Coffee-Cholesterol Connection BCM Campaign puts Personalized Medicine on the Fast-Track

	Volume 4, Issue 1, Summer 2008



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