By Scott D. Miller, MD, MBA and Brian Rivers, PhD, MPH
Prostate cancer remains one of the most common malignancies affecting men, and in Georgia it continues to expose deep and persistent inequities. While advances in screening, imaging, surgery, radiation, and systemic therapies have improved outcomes overall, not all communities have benefited equally. In particular, Black men in Georgia are diagnosed at younger ages, present ... Continue Reading
By D. Adam Jones, MD
Since joining Radiation Oncology Associates in 2014 a practice founded in 1983 by my mentor, Dr. Charles Mendenhall - I have had the opportunity to serve alongside Dr. William Jay McAfee, our director and guiding visionary. Our department is integrated within Tower I of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, where we play an essential role in the comprehensive delivery of cancer care ... Continue Reading
By Suresh S. Ramalingam, MD, FACP, FASCO
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States; in Georgia, approximately 6,800 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed, and 3,680 deaths are reported each year.1 Georgia ranks among the top 10 states in the nation for incidence and mortality related to lung cancer. There has been a significant improvement in therapeutic options for lung cancer in ... Continue Reading
By Roland Matthews, MD and Giuseppe Del Priore, MD
Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common female reproductive tract cancer in the United States, and is one of few cancers with increasing incidence and mortality. In some communities, uterine cancer is now more common than breast cancer and kills more people than lung cancer (Timoteo-Liaina et al 2020). Among guideline-forming organizations, the prevailing official ... Continue Reading
By Amelia Zelnak, MD MSc
Approximately 20% of breast cancers have overexpression of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor that belongs to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family. The normal function of HER2 is to regulate cell growth and survival, as well as adhesion, migration, differentiation, and other cellular responses. HER2 ... Continue Reading
By Kimberly King-Spohn, MS, CGC
It's been over three decades since genetic testing was first introduced as a tool for patients at risk of hereditary cancer syndromes. In its early days, genetic testing was expensive, time-consuming (often taking up to eight weeks for results) and offered limited impact on clinical management. Fast forward to 2026, genetic testing is now a routine part of cancer care. It's ... Continue Reading
By L. Crain Garrot, MD
Each day I meet with patients who have been given some of the worst news they may ever hear: You have cancer. It is an unfortunate truth that not all lives can be saved. However, with recent advancements in oncology care, survival rates have increased and allowed more than 600,000 Georgians to live beyond their cancer treatment.1 This improvement is directly correlated to ... Continue Reading
By Trevor M. Feinstein, MD
When Georgia CORE was founded in 2003, the state of Georgia faced the challenge of overcoming the perception that better cancer care was available elsewhere. Neighboring states each had at least one National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, while Georgia the largest state east of the Mississippi River struggled with high cancer incidence, a ... Continue Reading
Approximately 2.1% of men and women in the United State will be diagnosed with melanoma in their lifetime, with about 4% of cases metastatic at diagnosis.1 Approximately 40%-60% of metastatic melanomas have a BRAF mutation2, and this, along with checkpoint inhibitor therapy, have dramatically changed the survival rates of metastatic melanoma. Choice of therapy depends on ... Continue Reading
Cutaneous melanoma is a disease in which neoplastic (cancer) cells form in the melanocytic cells, arising in the epidermis of our largest organ, the skin. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 99,780 new melanomas will be diagnosed in 2022 (57,180 in men and 42,600 in women).1,2 While the rates of melanoma have been increasing over the last few decades, this has ... Continue Reading
By Earl Stewart Jr., MD
In May of this year, the results of a new population-based analysis performed by research at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC) were released showing that from 2004 to 2018, there has been an increased incidence of metastatic prostate cancer in men of all ages, especially in men ages 75 and older. For years, we’ve been encouraged in ... Continue Reading
By Melinda R. Mohr, MD
The gold standard for melanoma diagnosis is routine histopathology with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stains. For clear-cut cases of melanoma, this alone is sufficient. However, as in all things in medicine, there are cases that fall within the gray zone. Is it an atypical nevus or is it melanoma? This is a question encountered on a daily basis in the practice of ... Continue Reading
By Ioana Bonta, MD
The tantalizing idea of harnessing the immune system to fight cancer has fascinated researchers and clinicians equally for many years. The belief that the body possesses natural defenses to combat cancer existed for a long time, with multiple anecdotal reports of tumors miraculously shrinking, either spontaneously or after an infectious episode. The link between the immune ... Continue Reading
By Helen K. Kelley
Atlanta-area physicians are at the forefront of groundbreaking cancer treatments that draw patients from all over the country. Cutting-edge Therapies for Brain Tumors in Children When Dr. Tobey MacDonald was recruited by Dr. Bill Woods to join the Pediatric Brain Cancer Program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in 2009, he was astounded by the fact that no such program ... Continue Reading
By Helen K. Kelley In recent years, immunotherapy – a range of cancer therapies that use the body’s own immune system to attack cancer cells – has gained ground as a weapon for fighting many different forms of the disease. We recently spoke with two Atlanta physicians about the promise and the reality of some immunotherapies. Targeted Therapies Block Growth and ... Continue Reading
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