When he retired to Sebring from Atlanta in 2014, Dennis Davis had a plan: fish and spend time with his wife, Deb. Despite ongoing treatment for prostate cancer and tongue cancer, the 75-year-old said he has been able to do that thanks to the ongoing care he’s received at Moffitt Cancer Center. It’s a two-plus hour drive to Tampa for his appointments, but he’s more than happy to make the trek, he said.
When John Shadock went to the doctor to discuss his ongoing migraines in 2019, he was shocked when doctors diagnosed him with glioblastoma and gave him about 12 months to live. Shadock, 41, and his wife Ali, 48, quickly learned that this form of brain cancer is one of the most complex and treatment-resistant cancers. Five years later, his survival is extraordinary, according to Peter Forsyth, MD, chair of the Neuro-Oncology Program at Moffitt Cancer Center, where John is being treated.
During the sweltering summer heat, Don walks the length of his Longboat Key building lobby. Back and forth. Fourteen loops, 16 loops, sometimes 18 loops. He’s tall, thin and built like an athlete. He moves with the grace not often seen in a 77-year-old, most likely thanks to years of playing football and basketball and running track and field.
Every day, patients buzz in and out of the clinic on the first floor of Moffitt Cancer Center’s Magnolia campus. They are picking up medications to ensure their T cell counts are high enough to continue receiving infusion and compatible with their ongoing cancer treatments. These patients are part of a special population. Many have already faced a battle for their lives against one disease. Then, they were diagnosed with cancer.
Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR T, has been a huge breakthrough for certain types of blood cancers. First approved in 2017, the therapy uses a patient’s own immune cells, which are removed and sent to a lab where they are genetically engineered, adding a receptor to help them better seek out cancer cells. Once infused back into the patient, the CAR T cells can easily find and attack the tumors.
At Moffitt Cancer Center, the mission is simple: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. Many read that statement and focus on cure — the research to discover new lifesaving treatments. But prevention is also heavily steeped in Moffitt’s core, and the cancer center has embraced the growing field of cancer prevention research.
Moffitt Cancer Center is leading a five-year research project taking a closer look at the mechanisms behind uveal melanoma, a rare type of eye cancer, including why the disease often spreads to the liver and ways to treat it. The project is in collaboration with the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami and the University of Florida Health Cancer Center.
