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Focusing On You: Breast Cancer Care at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dr. Carmen Calfa is part of the breast cancer care team at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Plantation, part of UHealth – University of Miami Health System. To find a doctor or make an appointment at one of Sylvester's locations (Miami, Deerfield Beach, Kendall, Coral Gables, Plantation, Coral Springs and Hollywood), visit the Sylvester website at www.sylvester.org or call our patient access program at 305-243-5302 or 877-243-1056.

ALYSE'S STORY

Alyse Siegel Chin was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 41. Her search for the best breast cancer care in South Florida led her to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she is being treated by Dr. Carmen Calfa.

"When I found out I had cancer, I had very dark thoughts. The first thing that came to mind was, 'I'm 41 years old, and this is it for me,'" says Siegel Chin. "But after meeting with Dr. Calfa and hearing my prognosis, I had a light at the end of the tunnel. With her encouragement, I was able to successfully complete my treatment without any breaks."

Under Dr. Calfa's care, Alyse has enrolled in the PALLAS clinical trial with the hope that it will reduce or eliminate the recurrence of breast cancer. "Here at Sylvester we want to provide the best personalized treatment for every patient who comes through our doors," says Dr. Calfa. "This means offering patients standard of care treatments and also evaluating every patient for clinical trials. It's the clinical trials that give them the hope that the future of breast cancer will be brighter than it is today."

According to well-established guidelines, Alyse will be monitored under Dr. Calfa's supervision for the next ten years. "For now, she has completed the toughest portions of her treatment, which include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, so she has a lot to celebrate," says Dr. Calfa.

THE PALLAS TRIAL

PALLAS is an abbreviation for PALbociclib CoLlaborative Adjuvant Study. The PALLAS Trial (NCT02513394) is exploring whether palbociclib, a targeted medication taken with adjuvant endocrine therapy, will decrease the chance of breast cancer coming back beyond endocrine therapy alone.

The PALLAS trial is for people who have had a diagnosis of hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer and are receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy. Adjuvant endocrine therapy is treatment that is given after surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy; examples include tamoxifen and /or aromatase inhibitors (e.g. anastrozole, letrozole, exemestane.)

Key participant criteria:

  • HR+/HER2-, stage II/III early invasive breast cancer
  • Pre- and postmenopausal women or men
  • Has completed surgery, any chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy
  • In good physical shape with adequate organ function

Additional criteria apply and can be found at the U.S National Library of Medicine's website.

 CLINICAL TRIALS AT SYLVESTER

An added benefit of treatment at Sylvester is access to the latest research advances through clinical trials. To learn more, please call Sylvester's Clinical Trial Matching Service at 866-574-5124.

ABOUT SYLVESTER COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER

At Sylvester, we specialize in cancer, only cancer. More than 250 cancer specialists – all faculty of the Miller School of Medicine – provide innovative, multidisciplinary care and conduct groundbreaking cancer research that leads to more advanced treatment options for our patients.

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of UHealth – the University of Miami Health System and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is among the nation's leading cancer centers and South Florida's only Cancer Center of Excellence. A 2015 study by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that cancer patients treated at Sylvester have a 10 percent higher chance of survival than those treated at nearly any other cancer center in the nation.

Sylvester discovers, develops and delivers more targeted therapies, providing the next generation of cancer clinical care – precision cancer medicine – to each patient. Our comprehensive diagnostics, coupled with teams of scientific and clinical experts who specialize in just one type of cancer, enable us to better understand each patient's individual cancer and develop treatments that target the cells and genes driving the cancer's growth and survival, leading to better outcomes.

At Sylvester, patients have access to more treatment options and more cancer clinical trials than most hospitals in the southeastern United States. To better serve current and future patients, Sylvester has a network of conveniently located outpatient treatment facilities in Miami, Coral Gables, Kendall, Hollywood, Plantation, Deerfield Beach and Coral Springs. For more information, visit Sylvester.org.

FOCUSING ON YOU

Focusing on You: Innovations in Modern Medicine is a series of healthcare-related stories airing regularly on CBS4. For more stories like this one, visit YouTube channels for Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and UHealth, University of Miami Health System.

Above content provided by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and UHealth, University of Miami Health System

 

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