Metastatic cancer was once a death sentence, but thanks to tremendous advances in immunotherapy and ongoing research in the field of oncology, people with advanced cancer are living many years with good quality of life.
“We live in a blessed era,” said Amin Kassam, MD, neurosurgeon at Endeavor Health, who is at the forefront of helping patients with metastatic brain and spine cancer preserve their personality, speech, movement, thought, and more through sophisticated minimally-invasive brain surgery performed while patients are fully conscious.
“Immune therapy has made many cancers a chronic disease,” said Dr. Kassam. “Survival is dependent on the host organ — breast, lung, where the cancer originated, but quality of life is largely determined by the brain. It’s my responsibility in surgery to preserve quality of life at all costs.”
Cancer is a smart, genetically-coded, living organism that disguises its cells, attacking and destroying healthy cells and organs, but in the last decade researchers have figured out how to unmask many of those cancer cells, targeting them with specific therapies, explained Dr. Kassam.
“Only a handful of those masks remain and through the advent of AI, with incredibly large volumes of information processed simultaneously, we will find those masks and develop effective, targeted approaches. Ultimately, we will unmask cancer and our immune system will treat it minute-to-minute” said Dr. Kassam.
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