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Diane McAuley, left, and Monica Gada of CWN-7 cut the cake at Diane’s graduation party, celebrating the end of her chemotherapy treatments.
DF/BWCC Patient among First Treated with New Chemo Protocol
When former schoolteacher Diane McAuley, who recently was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, saw a newsflash about a treatment that allows patients to live longer, she considered it an act of God.
“I had to look at it from a providence point of view,” said McAuley, 55, of Raynham, who met with Ursula Matulonis, MD, of the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) to discuss treatment options just days after she saw the news about intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy in January. “I’m ready and this study just came out.”
Findings published in January in the New England Journal of Medicine confirmed the benefit of IP chemotherapy given in tandem with intravenous (IV) chemotherapy—survival time of 16 months longer than those patients receiving IV chemo alone. IP chemo, which is administered through a surgically implanted catheter that allows fluids to pass into the abdomen, gives new hope to McAuley and the 22,000 women in the United States diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year.
“Because of modern day medicine and the power of prayer, cancer doesn’t have to be a name to be feared anymore,” said McAuley, who was diagnosed in November with ovarian cancer.
McAuley underwent a hysterectomy at Good Samaritan Hospital, with BWH Division of Gynecologic Oncology’s Donald Goldstein, MD, participating on her surgical team, before she began chemotherapy at DF/BWCC. Matulonis determined that McAuley, who had no other health problems, was a good candidate for IP chemo. McAuley decided to go ahead with the treatment, making her one of the first patients at DF/BWCC to be treated according to the research findings and chemotherapy protocol in the recently published trial of the Gynecologic Oncology Group—a National Cancer Institute-supported research network.
The study also showed that IP chemo could cause severe side effects, including low white blood cell counts, infection and fatigue. “It’s important for the patient to have a role in the decision-making process. IP chemotherapy has more side effects, but it also is showing much better results than solely IV chemotherapy,” Matulonis said. “We do have available to us a number of different medications to help with nausea, infection and anemia.”
Since beginning treatment, McAuley has blazed the trail for future patients receiving IP chemo. Nurses have updated their policies and procedures based on McAuley’s experience.
“She didn’t mind being our teacher,” said Detta Quigley-Lavoie, RN, nurse manager of CWN-7, where McAuley was admitted for three to four days at the beginning of each chemo cycle. The treatment required collaboration among many at the DF/BWCC, including nurses, physicians and pharmacists, who needed to learn about the toxicities of the IP chemo and how to manage them for patients. “We monitor each patient through rounds to manage this,” said Sylvia Bartel, RPh, MPH, assistant director of Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy at BWH and director of Pharmacy and Clinical Support at DFCI.
Many of McAuley’s care team were present at her graduation, where she celebrated the start of her sixth and final round of chemo. McAuley and her friend Toni Carvalho decorated the CWN-7 family room in purple—the color of hope—and served a cake and other goodies.
“You all had hope and heart and just gave so much to her,” Carvalho told Quigley-Lavoie.