Roswell Park is the only facility in Western New York that has both the technology and the expertise required to offer the treatment.

Dr. Fenstermaker says the technology has transformed the way he and other neurosurgeons perform surgeries and help their patients.

What matters most in terms of whether ovarian cancer will recur is the stage of disease at the time of diagnosis and if all visible cancer was removed at the time of surgery.

“Experiencing Roswell Park’s tight-knit family is what compelled me to come back for a second year. Getting a thank you from a neighbor can really change your day.”

Dr. Clinton willingly traveled from Ohio to Buffalo every month, and sometimes more often, because the clinical trial “was the most advanced immunological treatment for my genetic type of cancer.

“Other than a shot once a month, I’m in no pain,“ Judi says. “Instead, I’ve already lived three years longer than I thought I would at the beginning of this diagnosis. I’m happy to be alive and feeling well, and one day, I hope to ring that Victory Bell at Roswell Park.”

This means patients can get the diagnosis they need without unnecessary surgery and begin treatment at a stage when treatment is likely to be more effective.

In 2019, Pamela Hershberger, PhD, came upon a stunningly significant finding in her research lab. Dr. Hershberger, Associate Professor of Oncology in Roswell Park’s Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, says she and her team had been “studying patients with a particular type of lung cancer — EGFR mutant lung cancer — and their response to a specific class of drugs called EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors.