HACKENSACK, NJ (Ivanhoe Newswire)—Weeks after a young New Jersey woman had COVID, she was still experiencing strange symptoms. She assumed those symptoms were related to the virus and would eventually abate. Unfortunately, her health took a nosedive, and she received a diagnosis that, for many, would have been a death sentence. Instead, doctors devised a specialized treatment that saved her life. Rare sarcoma
Two years ago, Zulema Rubio had just recovered from COVID and wanted to get back into shape.
“I started jogging around the block because, at that time, we were all staying inside. But I couldn’t get down the block without being out of breath,” Rubio explained.
But when her face ballooned and her chest veins began to pop, doctors diagnosed Rubio with an intimal sarcoma, a very rare tumor that started in the lining of a major vein leading to the heart.
Andrew Pecora, MD, a medical oncologist at the Hackensack University Medical Center said, “Unless you can have the tumor surgically removed, you cannot cure it. And it’s a 100 percent fatality rate if you can’t remove it surgically.”
For Rubio, time was running out. Standard chemotherapy wouldn’t shrink the tumor fast enough. Doctors used genomic sequencing to find drugs that might work.
“He [DR. Pecora] said that there’s gonna be times where it’s gonna be really hard and you’re gonna wanna give up. And he said, ‘we’re still gonna do it’,” Rubio said.
Four days of around the clock chemotherapy followed by weeks of radiation and immunotherapy finally shrunk the tumor so surgery was possible. The surgery was a complex, 14-hour procedure.
“They actually were able to stop her heart, open up her heart in this vein, bypass the blood from the whole upper part of the body to allow them to peel this thing off from the inside of her vein and from inside her heart. And then close that all back up again, perfectly, so that it worked,” Dr. Pecora explained.
Rubio is now cancer free.
Dr. Pecora added, “This is a medical miracle and I’m a clinician, I’m a scientist. I don’t use words lightly. I’ve been doing this for 30 years. This is a true medical miracle.”
Rubio also realized another life goal; during her yearlong treatment, she decided instead of going to law school, she wanted to mentor kids. She is now halfway through her first year teaching freshman English at a charter school in Newark, New Jersey.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer, Editor.
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MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: MEDICAL MIRACLE SAVES ZULEMA FROM RARE SARCOMA
REPORT: MB #5014
BACKGROUND: Sarcomas only make up approximately one percent of all adult cancer diagnoses because they are more common among children. Between 1,500 and 1,700 children are diagnosed with a bone or soft tissue sarcoma in the U.S. each year. This makes up about 15 percent of cancers in children under the age of 20. Tumors grow in common areas like legs, hands, arms, head, neck, chest, shoulders, abdomen, and hips. And, about 50 to 60 percent of soft tissue sarcomas occur in extremities, or the arms and legs. Although there are no known risk factors for sarcoma, certain genetic conditions, radiation exposure, and some chemicals may increase the risk of developing sarcoma in some individuals.
(Source: https://www.nfcr.org/blog/blog5-facts-know-sarcoma/)
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT: A sarcoma specialist, whether an orthopedic oncologist or a surgical oncologist, will evaluate the size and location of the tumor as well as check for metastases. They will take a variety of tests from an MRI and CT scans to bone scans and biopsies. This will ensure they get the full picture of the condition. Each sarcoma patient’s treatment plan will be different. Some hospitals use a multidisciplinary approach to sarcoma treatment that involves a large team of experts who work together to find the best treatment which may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. For example, treatment for osteosarcoma may involve nine weeks of chemotherapy, surgery to remove the tumor and rebuild the bone, and another five months of chemotherapy. Like most other cancers, a sarcoma may recur.
PROGRESS IN SARCOMA TREATMENT: Researchers have recently discovered new drugs and therapeutic treatments that may provide more options for Ewing’s sarcoma patients, a rare cancer that can occur in the bones or soft tissues. Only about 30 percent of patients with Ewing’s sarcoma are over age 20, and in these cases the disease tends to be more difficult to treat. In an ongoing clinical trial including adult and pediatric patients with metastatic, relapsed, or refractory Ewing’s sarcoma, the standard chemotherapy drug vincristine was administered in combination with TK216, a novel inhibitor of ETS proteins. Almost half of the patients treated with TK216 experienced clinical benefits by either complete response or stable disease. Two patients are currently in complete remission with no evidence of recurrence for over one and two years. Further research needs to be done between new drugs and the specific properties of a given patient’s cancer before treatment begins to determine which patients are likely to respond to a therapy and which will not.
(Source: https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/progress-in-ewings-sarcoma-treatment.h00-159460845.html)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
Mary McGeever
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