By Darby Kendall
Brian Druker, M.D., CEO of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute and JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research, revolutionized the treatment of cancer through research that led to Gleevec, the first drug to target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. His discovery turned a once-fatal cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, into a manageable condition. In 2001, Gleevec gained FDA approval in record time, landed on the cover of Time magazine and established Druker as a cancer pioneer. His work launched the era of precision cancer medicine, leading to hundreds of other therapies.
Here are some highlights from Druker speaking at a recent conference on the future of cancer care and his vision for creating a world-class care experience for cancer patients at the Knight Cancer Institute.
Transcript
My hope is that if we set this navigation wrap-around care program up right, other people are going to want to copy us, and that’s a good thing. That’s going to help patients everywhere.
Dr. Brian Druker, CEO of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, revolutionized the treatment of cancer through research that led to Gleevec, the first drug to target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. His discovery turned a once-fatal cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, into a manageable condition. Here are some highlights from Dr. Druker speaking at a recent conference on the future of cancer care and his vision for creating a world-class care experience for cancer patients at the Knight Cancer Institute.
So, I want you to go with me and imagine what cancer care is going to look like at the Knight Cancer Institute.
So you have a checkup, go to a routine screening, and something abnormal comes back. And at most places, including OHSU, it can take a month or more just to get a diagnosis. At the Knight Cancer Institute, we’re going to get everyone evaluated and diagnosed within one week. And if your evaluation means you hear those dreaded words, “It’s cancer,” your mind goes to those darkest places. How long have I got? How awful is treatment going to be? How am I to get through this? And at the same time, there’s a maze of testing to be done, appointments to be made, insurance companies to battle and loved ones that need to be told something when you don’t know anything.
At the Knight, we will change that. Immediately after you hear the word “cancer,” we’ll make sure that you know that you’re not alone. We’ll have a navigator to guide you through your care, making sure that there’s somebody to assist you. It’ll be a caring voice, that compassionate voice letting you know we’ve got you. The navigator will connect you to a team of the best oncologists who will create a personalized battle plan for your cancer. They’ll make sure your care remains coordinated between surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, inpatient and outpatient teams, and all across our Knight Cancer Institute sites.
We know that cancer is not this simple foe based on geography. All breast cancers aren’t alike. So why do we treat them all alike? That’s why we’ll come up with a treatment specifically for you. But your care is not going to be just about attacking the cancer. We will provide an unmatched suite of support services, including nutrition, mental health counseling, financial services that include navigating insurance coverage and, most importantly, symptom management for all those awful chemicals we may give you. You’ll have access to support programs like exercise, complimentary care, acupuncture, massage therapy and anything else you need. And if you need urgent care, we’ll have a 24-hour facility in the Vista Pavilion so you can bypass the emergency room.
But too often, patients feel abandoned when their treatment is finished or they’re discharged from the hospital. Our team won’t desert you during those times when you’re discharged or when your care is finished. We’ll continue to support you because we believe it’s not enough just simply to survive cancer. We want you to thrive and live a full life.
Penny and Phil Knight have given us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with their record shattering $2 billion gift. They’re challenging us once again to be unapologetically ambitious, and they believe we will create the best breakthroughs in cancer research and set the standard for care in the state we all love so much.
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