By Mohammad Jahanzeb, MD, FACP, FASCO – Medical Oncologist at Naples Cancer Advisors
“I was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer in 2011. My primary care doctor was surprised after conducting numerous tests to determine the cause of my persistent cough. Finally, an X-ray revealed I had cancer. I was sent to University of Miami Healthcare and Deerfield to see Dr. Mohammad Jahanzeb (Dr. MJ). It was the best thing that could have happened to me. He took the time to meet with my husband and me, and in his office explained the steps he would take to help me. I asked if he had any treatments that would prevent me from going bald. He granted my request, and I never went bald or was even hospitalized. He started my chemo and also administered Xgeva shots.
Over the years, Dr. MJ had to change the chemo, but it always included the Xgeva shot. He always treated me well and showed genuine interest in how I was feeling and progressing. Because of Dr. MJ’s care, I was able to continue working full-time and maintain all of my weekly activities. He made sure to have scans and MRIs performed to monitor my progress. After a few years, he wanted to check for mutations so I could start taking pills. He tried three times because he wasn’t giving up, and on the third try, he got a match and then started me on the pills. He continued to follow up on all the scans and MRIs, and we were all very pleased.
The years kept passing, and I continued to feel better and better. I can’t thank Dr. MJ enough. It reminds me of the story in the Bible where a woman was sick with a blood issue for 12+ years and was healed by Jesus. Well, the modern-day woman is me, and Jesus sent Dr. MJ here to help me. It has been 12+ years, and I no longer have any visible cancer cells. I feel great, and as I said before, I cannot thank Dr. MJ enough for his amazing care because he truly cared for his patients and always showed it. I am now living well.” – EP
Dr. MJ’s Perspective
Although it has been about 13 years, I still vividly remember when EP came to see me for a second opinion at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Deerfield Beach Campus. She was very passionate about her job as a church schoolteacher and never wanted to traumatize her students by losing her hair due to chemotherapy, which would have given away her diagnosis of cancer. I promised her that I will choose drugs that don’t cause hair loss without compromising the effectiveness of the treatment. Her biopsy material from the spine was so limited that it was all used up in making the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma with spread to the bone, with no tissue left for mutation testing. As a result, I gave her three lines of different chemotherapy agents that don’t cause hair loss, followed by immunotherapy. She went 5 years on these drugs with a near-normal quality of life. I then informed her that any additional drugs I may offer will cause hair loss unless we try another biopsy to find a mutation that is targetable with pills. She graciously agreed, and a biopsy was done, but the tissue was used up doing other tests that did not yield the right information. I commend her for agreeing to a third biopsy upon my insistence which revealed an ALK fusion, for which we had FDA approved targeted therapy options. Now there are 5 available options, and she is currently on the 3rd, still doing great. She has done better than most patients with her diagnosis and stage, where the estimated average survival in 2011 was quoted as 10-12 months. Now ALK-positive patients receiving targeted therapy are expected to live longer than 7 years! It is truly heartening to see this progress within the past two decades.
We are excited to announce that Dr. Jahanzeb is joining the Naples Cancer Advisors (NCA) practice to provide no-cost second-opinions to the SWFL community. NCA is a nonprofit practice which provides platinum-level consultative oncology services such as second opinions, care coordination, referrals, clinical trial navigation, financial navigation, and precision oncology services including genetic testing and counseling to cancer patients in the Southwest Florida area – at no cost to the patient.
Dr. Jahanzeb is the Co-Founder and President of OncAdvisor and also co-founded PrecisCa. His most recent practice sites were Florida Cancer Specialists and Florida Precision Oncology. He was formerly a Professor of Clinical Medicine, Hematology/Oncology at University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, where he also served as the Associate Director of Community Outreach and Medical Director of the Deerfield Campus for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center for about nine years. He received his oncology training at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO, where he subsequently served on Faculty. He has practiced and led clinical research in lung and breast cancer medical oncology for about 30 years.
239-846-2273 (CARE)
3201 Tamiami Trail N, Suite 112, Naples, FL 34103
naplescanceradvisors.org