Mysteries - Swedish Medical Center Foundation

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As Lori rode with John in the ambulance, a smallmiracle seemed to take place. Lori watched asJohn seemed to recover. He even apologized to theparamedics for getting them out in the middle of acold night. At the hospital, however, the news was not good.A CT scan revealed a “spot” on John’s brain. The emergencyroom physician said this was evidence of “maybe a stroke,maybe a bruise on the brain . . . maybe something else.”That “something else,” they soon learned, was the mostdevastating news of all. John, a man who had never been illin his life, had a malignant cancerous tumor in his brain.The Tops returned home to Seattle. As John tried toresume his life and work, Lori researched treatment optionswith mounting despair. One physician the couple consultedsuggested it might be best to forego any treatment andmake the best of the time they had.Eventually, the Tops found themselves at the SwedishNeuroscience Institute. And there they met a neurosurgeonwho would not only offer excellent medical care, but alsosomething they were finding in short supply — hope.A Physician Focused on aFuture for His PatientsGreg Foltz, M.D., is a quietly determined man. Whenhe meets patients like John Top, his goal is not only totreat the symptoms of their disease, but also to keepthem alive long enough for medical science to find acure. And he’s not sitting by waiting for that to happen. Dr.Foltz recently helped set up what may be the country’s mostcomprehensive brain tumor bank to catalog and studytumors like John’s. The information researchers hope togain may well pave the way for cures for a host of diseases,not just those of the brain.F O R U M6W I N T E R 2 0 0 7
It was the opportunity to be both a hands-onneurosurgeon and a researcher that brought Dr. Foltz to theSwedish Neuroscience Institute (SNI) in 2005. Previously,Dr. Foltz had been at the University of Iowa College ofMedicine, where his clinical interests included the surgicaltreatment of malignantbrain tumors, but alsocomplex disordersof the craniocervicaljunction — the placewhere the spine andbrain attach.Relocating toSwedish meant Dr.Foltz could see andstudy more patientswith the kind oftumors he wanted tofocus on treating. As the premier treatment center in thePacific Northwest for complex tumors of the brain, the SNIwelcomes patients from around the world.“One thing that makes learning about these types oftumors difficult,” says Dr. Foltz, “is that there are relativelyfew people who get them.” Dr. Foltz is especially interestedin oligodendrogliomas like John’s, which are currentlyconsidered incurable.Soon after arriving in Seattle, Dr. Foltz began working ondeveloping a tumor “bank” that would give researchers inSeattle and beyond access to tissue samples for advancedstudy. In 2006 he was able to meet this goal through analliance with the Allen Institute for Brain Science and theInstitute for Systems Biology, both premier Northwestresearch institutions.“We now have oneof the largest braintumor researchprojects in thecountry,” says Dr.Foltz. “I can now tellmy patients that wehave people workingevery day for a betterunderstanding ofthese tumors.”“We now have one of the largest brain tumor researchprojects in the country,” says Dr. Foltz. “I can now tell mypatients that we have people working every day for a betterunderstanding of these tumors.”What is unusual about the research project, says Dr.Foltz, is that the collaborators are focused solely on humandisease rather than theoretical pursuits. It is a project witha mission, says Dr. Foltz, to help patients currently affected.It is from these patients’ tumors that all of the data iscollected.One of the things the researchers are looking into iswhether there are certain genes that “turn on” and causea tumor to grow. These genes may remain dormant fordecades, only to “awaken” for some reason. Why? That’swhat researchers are hoping to find out.Dr. Foltz has also developed a way to analyze a patient’sblood and look for certain “markers” that can helpdetermine the best course of chemotherapy for a particulartype of tumor. While there is still a long way to go, the earlyresults look promising for not only brain tumors, but othertypes of diseases as well. The goal is to eventually learnwhich drugs will best destroy a particular tumor withoutharming healthy tissue or impacting vital organs.F O R U MW I N T E R 2 0 0 77
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