Doctor, Patient Looking Forward to TeamWalk for Cancer Care Fundraiser

By Jeff Shmase

ANDOVER, MA – An Andover physician channeled his inner Rocky Balboa recently to bolster a cause that is close to his heart. During a video shoot to promote the TeamWalk for Cancer Care, Murat Anamur, M.D., a hematologist/oncologist and director of cancer services at Lowell General Hospital’s Cancer Center, adorned a boxing robe and gloves while running up the stairs of the hospital’s original entrance. The scene was one of many depicted in the 1 minute, 47 second film that incorporated Rachel Platten’s singing her hit “Fight Song.”

The message the video tried to impart is dealing with a cancer diagnosis requires a team approach to fight it – and hopefully defeat it. Dr. Anamur has seen how that model works, and coupled with newer ways to treat it the results continue to improve.

“Treatment is moving away from a generic approach to a more individualized method or targeted therapy,” said Dr. Anamur, who has worked at Lowell General for the past 25 years. “We look at targets in cancer cells and the target is intended to hit the bullseye. As a result, the treatment is more effective and the side effects are less.”

Over time, every cancer patient will have a specific characteristic, something that Dr. Anamur compared to people having unique fingerprints.

Two types of cancer diagnoses have benefitted extraordinarily well from the targeted therapy, he said. A leukemia known has CML has been treated with targeted drugs, and the results are “mind-boggling,” Dr. Anamur said. The other is a type of breast cancer known as Her-Neu-2, in which a drug used to combat it has produced “drastically better results,” Dr. Anamur said.

As a hematologist/oncologist, Dr. Anamur specializes in the non-surgical management of cancer. Long-used treatment options of chemotherapy (drugs) radiation or both are prescribed, depending on the diagnosis. Should those alternatives not be deemed helpful, then surgery is always a consideration.

One patient who has benefitted from Dr. Anamur’s oversight is Dudley Abbe, also an Andover resident and a cancer survivor. Abbe was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2000, and following surgery was put on a radiation regimen. He did not require chemotherapy.

Abbe, a vice president for Sodexo based at Lowell General, said having a cancer center close to his home was something he valued. Abbe said he was in and out of treatment and back to his home within an hour.

The care Abbe and others receive require many hands, as the treatment for cancer uses a team-oriented approach to help patients deal with the physical, emotional, financial and psychological impact of it.

“You need without question, a huge support team, including specialized nurses, multiple physicians, social workers, pain managers, a palliative care team and if the treatment works a post-treatment phase,” Dr. Anamur said. He said the patient’s caregivers outside of the hospital also play a key role in recovery.

“No single person can be effective; that’s why you need centers with large support systems,” he said. “As the treatment gets more complicated, the team needs to get bigger.”

The relationship continues once the disease is in remission as well. Patients receive follow-up care for a minimum of five years so providers can monitor whether a cancer cell returns. Abbe is one of those patients who gets checked regularly; thankfully the cancer has not returned

Dr. Anamur said he is looking forward to the 17th annual TeamWalk for Cancer Care, which will be held Sunday, May 22, starting at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. He said the event provides him with the opportunity to see current and former patients in a fun, social environment outside of the hospital. Abbe will also be walking.

“This is a wonderful setting that reminds you that cancer is beatable,” Dr. Anamur said, who cited there are 14 million cancer survivors in the U.S. and that number is growing daily.

Dr. Anamur will be walking as well and supporting an event that he says is critical to the mission of the hospital’s cancer center.

“This is a huge event for us because it supports so many services that are not provided by insurance, including transportation to the center, nutrition, medicine; simple stuff that so important that people don’t think about.”

For more information or to make a donation visit www.teamwalk.org.

About TeamWalk for CancerCare

On Sunday, May 22, Lowell General Hospital will hold its 17th annual TeamWalk for CancerCare. With the help of generous corporate partners and more than 5,000 participants, TeamWalk raises funds to support the Cancer Center’s services for patients and their families. Since its inception in 2000, TeamWalk has raised more than $9 million to help more than 24,000 patients.

TeamWalk funds make a difference in the lives of today’s cancer patients by paying for medications, nutritional supplements, wigs and prostheses, support groups, skilled nursing visits, transportation, mini-grants, and supportive services to patients of all cancer types. Funds raised enable Lowell General Hospital to provide assistance, support, and services to help people feel better, build confidence and instill hope throughout their battle with cancer.

The walk begins and ends at the Tsongas Center, starting at 7:30 a.m. with registration and ending at 11:45 a.m. with a closing ceremony. Participants can either walk or run a three or 6.2 mile route.

About the Cancer Center at Lowell General Hospital

The Cancer Center at Lowell General Hospital provides care for adults with all types of cancer. Services include radiation, medical and GYN oncology treatments, diagnosis, cancer risk assessment, support services, clinical collaboration with multidisciplinary providers, access to clinical trials, education, prevention and screening as well as support services for patients and their caregivers. The Cancer Center has been rated number one for patient satisfaction in the state of Massachusetts and received Accreditation with Commendation as a Comprehensive Community Cancer Program from the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer.