With ever-growing treatment options, clinical care access and a new focus on integrative strategies, cancer centers are constantly upgrading their services and options for patients.
Becker’s asked leaders about the most impressive result they’ve seen in a cancer patient and how they got there. Here are their stories:
Editor’s note: These responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Ashraf Badros, MD. Director of the Multiple Myeloma Service and Vice Chair of the Clinical Research Committee at University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore): One of the most memorable outcomes I’ve witnessed involved a young patient with multiple myeloma whom I have followed for over 15 years — far exceeding my expectations — thanks to the sequential introduction of novel therapies and experimental protocols. At diagnosis, he underwent a stem cell transplant, which provided several years of remission. As the disease relapsed, his treatment evolved alongside advances in myeloma care: immunomodulatory drugs, proteasome inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, B cell inhibitors, CAR T-cell therapy, and most recently, bispecific T-cell engagers. His journey mirrors the remarkable progress in myeloma treatment.
What made his story so impactful was not just therapeutic innovation, but his unwavering motivation and engagement in his care. Despite setbacks, he remains full of gratitude. Each new line of therapy gave him more time — time to get married, travel, maintain a full-time job, and become a passionate advocate for research funding and clinical trials.
His case reminded me how far we’ve come: when I began my career, multiple myeloma patients typically survived a median of 2-3 years. Now, many live 20 or more years post-diagnosis, and some may even be cured of what was once considered an incurable cancer. I have seen firsthand how research advances translate into real, meaningful time for patients and their families — a powerful testament to the importance of access to clinical trials, long-term follow-up, and more importantly, the enduring power of human hope and resilience.
Julian Kim, MD. President of Prisma Health Cancer Institute (Greenville, S.C.): As a practicing cancer surgeon, I am constantly amazed at the impact that modern neoadjuvant therapy is having on patients with triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer. The complete response rates are so high that I am convinced that we are heading toward an era when, in select patients, surgery will not be necessary for breast cancer patients. Clinical trials are ongoing to test this hypothesis. The same is being observed in select patients with lung cancer and even rectal cancer. Immunotherapy plays a major role in this transformational shift. There was a time when immunotherapy was considered experimental and applicable to a very narrow range of tumor types. We have now pivoted to approaches where immunotherapy is front and center, and we are still in early stages of understanding the power of the immune system to treat and prevent cancer.
Ruben Mesa, MD. President of Atrium Health Levine Cancer, Executive Director of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center and Clinical Leader at Advocate Health National Cancer Service Line (Charlotte, Winston-Salem N.C.): Advocate Health has been strongly focused on understanding and working to diminish financial toxicity that cancer patients face when undergoing treatment. At Charlotte-based Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute, we take a 2-pronged approach. The first is screening for possible financial toxicity for all patients through a systematic Patient Assistance Program to connect patients with resources from pharmaceutical companies or foundations whereby they may be eligible to receive benefits. The next step for patients with more complex needs is a referral to our first-in-nation Financial Toxicity Tumor Board. The FTTB follows the style of a disease specific tumor board where experts (admin, care team, pharmacy, nursing, social work, financial counselors) come together around specific needs to try to solve multi-faceted financial needs such as housing, transportation, and childcare. The aggregate 5-year results of our approach, recently published in Journal of National Comprehensive Cancer Network, have provided more than 9,000 patients with copay assistance and more than 16,000 patients received free medication, totaling about $400 million in savings for them.
Suresh Ramalingam, MD. Executive Director at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University (Atlanta): As an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, our team at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University conducts innovative research and provides care that spans the spectrum of cancer prevention, early detection, treatment and survivorship. A notable example of impactful progress made in our efforts against cancer is a recent advance in the treatment of patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations. The results of the LAURA Phase III trial, which we presented at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting, demonstrated that treatment with osimertinib following chemoradiation led to a nearly sevenfold improvement in progression-free survival compared to placebo. Updated data released in 2025 further confirmed these benefits, showing a continued favorable trend in overall survival, and reinforcing osimertinib’s role as the new standard of care in this setting.
Importantly, these outcomes were made possible by advances in precision medicine — specifically, the use of genetic testing to identify patients whose tumors carry EGFR mutations and match them with therapies that target those changes. Osimertinib also significantly reduced the risk of brain metastases, one of the most significant and dangerous complications of this type of lung cancer. Together, these advances are giving patients more time to enjoy a better quality of life.
W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD. CEO of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital (Columbus): The rise of immunotherapy as a treatment that has efficacy in many cancer types is truly remarkable and energizing. In my field, as in others, this created a fundamental shift. In metastatic kidney cancer, we used to teach that the disease was not curable, period. We would prepare patients that, although we had options that could control the disease for a time, it was eventually going to be the cause of their death. Now that narrative is different. We have patients who have complete and durable responses, and we know that we have the chance to achieve a normal life after cancer. It gives us inspiration that we will be able to fully harness the immune system to eradicate cancer.
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