4 / 8
We l l n e s s
IOWA CITY COUPLE SHARES
CANCER EXPERIENCE
LIKE ANY MARRIED
couple, Ken and Keli Shropshire,
of Iowa City, are happy to share many things.
But they also share something most people would
choose to avoid: a cancer diagnosis.
Just as Ken was completing treatment for bladder
cancer in 2014, Keli was diagnosed with cancer. In fact,
Ken brought Keli to his last appointment at Cancer Care
of Iowa City and asked oncologist Scott Miller, MD, to
begin treating his wife.
“Incredible facilities and wonderful people,” says Ken
of his experience.
“I knew that Ken had a good experience [with Mercy],”
says Keli. “And I discovered how caring and compassion-
ate caregivers can be.”
The Shropshires were the featured speakers at Mercy
Cancer Survivors Day 2015, held in Mercy’s atrium in
April.
“This has given me more self-awareness,” says Keli
of her experience. “It has given me a chance to see how
deep my resources go.”
Alan Moy, MD
‘DISEASE-IN-A-DISH’
ADVANCES CANCER RESEARCH
Approach of Alan Moy, MD, and colleagues holds promise for patients
WE OFTEN HEAR
cancer “breakthroughs” proclaimed
in the news, only to see disappointment follow in the
long-term results. Indeed, “Cancer is one of the most
challenging diseases to overcome,” says Alan Moy, MD,
pulmonologist and Scientific Director
of the John Paul II Medical Research
Institute (JPIIMRI).
Amember of the Mercy medical staff
since 2005, Dr. Moy sees patients with
lung diseases in the practice Pulmonary
Associates of Iowa City, PC. He also
spends hours at the JPIIMRI looking
for another way to help patients—developing highly ac-
curate, personalized cancer treatments.
Dr. Moy and his research colleagues are creating dozens
of miniature cancer tumors in the lab—tumors grown
from a patient’s own cancer cells. They then test multiple
therapies in multiple combinations on the miniature tu-
mors to see which therapies are most effective. He calls
it the “disease-in-a-dish” model.
IT STARTS WITH STEM CELLS
Cancer biology is com-
plex, and growing cancer cells has been an enormous
challenge, says Dr. Moy. This is where cancer stem cells
enter the picture.
A stem cell is a kind of body cell that is able to develop
into any other kind of cell (and there are more than 200
kinds of cells in the body). You might call it a master cell.
Stem cells can also be the driving force for causing
cancer. Cancer is caused by cancer stem cells, which resist
radiation and chemotherapy and are the reason why cancer
can relapse and metastasize.
Dr. Moy and his colleagues have focused on obtaining
cancer stem cells in two different ways: harvesting cancer
stem cells directly from cancer tumors (about 2 percent
of a tumor’s cells are cancer stem cells) and “genetically
reprogramming” regular tumor cells, thus reverting them
back to cancer stem cells. Once the tumor stem cells are
obtained, they are used to grow three-dimensional solid
tumors in a lab dish—copies of an individual’s cancer.
“It’s well-recognized that no two cancer patients are
the same in terms of the biology of their cancer,” Dr. Moy
says. “Clinical trials provide guidelines for the ‘average’
patient, not each unique patient.”
THE GOAL FOR PATIENTS
With these miniature copies
of a patient’s tumors, different combinations of therapies
can be tested. The goal: to learn which treatment is most
effective, with the fewest side effects, for an individual
patient.
Breast, colorectal, lung, bladder, head and neck, and
brain tumors best lend themselves to Dr. Moy’s approach.
Mercy patients have taken part in Dr. Moy’s research since
2005 by donating cancer tissue.
“This approach helps bridge the gap between drug
development and clinical trials,” Dr. Moy says. “It’s very
efficient, very cost-effective. It has the promise of provid-
ing a very high level of precision. Most of all, it can help
give patients access to the therapies that have the most
promise for their individual situations.”
JPIIMRI is a not-for-profit research organization
focused on the most ethical and cost-effective ways of
conducting research to develop therapies for a variety of
diseases. For more information, visit
www.jp2mri.org.
KNOW
YOUR
SATURATED
UNHEALTHY
Can raise cholesterol.
RECOMMENDED AMOUNT
Less than 7% daily.
TRANS-FATTY ACIDS
UNHEALTHY
Can raise cholesterol.
RECOMMENDED AMOUNT
Less than 1% daily.
MONOUNSATURATED
HEALTHY
RECOMMENDED AMOUNT
In moderation.
May help lower cholesterol.
Good source of vitamin E.
POLYUNSATURATED
HEALTHY
RECOMMENDED AMOUNT
In moderation.
May help lower cholesterol.
Good source of omega-6
and omega-3 fatty acids.
Total fat intake should be
between 25 and 35 percent
of daily calories.
Sources: Academy of Nutrition and
Dietetics; American Heart Association
FATS
Mercy Iowa City is accredited as a
Comprehensive Community Cancer Program
by the
American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer
4
S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 5
W E L L
A W A R E