The Coleman Foundation Comprehensive Gastrointestinal Cancer
Clinic is an integral part of the gastrointestinal cancers program at
Rush, offering the latest diagnostic capabilities as well as leading edge treatment options. As one of the few places in the Chicago area to provide a full spectrum of care for patients with gastrointestinal cancers, the clinic brings together a team of experts in gastroenterology, hepatology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, pathology, diagnostic and interventional radiology, and surgery. New patients meet with a multidisciplinary team in a single visit. Patients leave knowing that there is a well-defined treatment plan designed to meet their specific needs.

2011 Highlights

Cancer symposium: In March 2011, Rush hosted a gastrointestinal cancer symposium entitled “A Multidisciplinary Approach to Management.” Topics included minimally invasive resection of gastric cancers, the importance of second opinions in colon neoplasia and saving the anus in rectal cancer.

New staff: This past year, several new staff members joined the gastrointestinal cancer team at Rush, including Bulent Arslan, MD, Allen T. Chen, MD, Jayesh Soni, MD, and Ulku Cenk Turba, MD, interventional radiologists; Gary Chmielewski, MD, thoracic surgeon; Sheila Eswaran, MD, hepatologist; Dana Hayden, MD, colorectal surgeon; Marisa Hill, MD, medical oncologist; and David Shapiro, MD, gastroenterologist.

Colon cancer biomarkers: In a study published in the International Journal of Cancer, gastroenterologists Joshua Melson, MD, and Sohrab Mobarhan, MD, and researcher Victor Levenson, MD, PhD, collaborated with colleagues in Italy to evaluate the feasibility of plasma-based detection of early colorectal cancers and adenomatous polyps using array-mediated analysis methylation profiling of 56 genes implicated in carcinogenesis. They found that methylation profiling of plasma DNA can detect colorectal cancers with significant accuracy and shows promise as a methodology in developing biomarkers for colorectal cancer screening.

Anal cancer screening: Rush’s colorectal cancer team is creating a program for screening patients at high risk for anal cancer in an effort to reduce the incidence of anal cancers. High-resolution anoscopy will be used to help identify lesions that escape detection with the naked eye.

Pancreatic cancer research: Ross Abrams,MD, is the international principal investigator of a Radiation Therapy Oncology Group phase III trial evaluating both erlotinib and chemoradiation as adjuvant treatment for patients with resected head of pancreas adenocarcinoma.

Multidisciplinary Team

Gastroenterologists:
John Losurdo, MD; Joshua Melson, MD;Sohrab Mobarhan, MD; Abhitabh Patil, MD; David Shapiro, MD

Hepatologist:
Sheila Eswaran, MD

Interventional radiologists:
Bulent Arslan, MD; Allen T. Chen, MD; Anil Pillai, MD; Jayesh Soni, MD; Ulku Cenk Turba, MD

Medical oncologists:
Mary Jo Fidler, MD; Marisa Hill, MD;William Leslie, MD

Pathologist:
Shriram Jakate, MD

Radiation oncologist:
Ross Abrams, MD

Radiologists:
John Hibbeln, MD; Claire Smith, MD

Surgical oncologists:
Marc Brand, MD; Gary Chmielewski, MD; Daniel Deziel, MD; S. Forrest Dodson, MD; Dana Hayden, MD; Edward Hong, MD; Michael Liptay, MD; Minh Luu, MD; Keith Millikan, MD; Jonathan Myers, MD;William Warren, MD

Gastrointestinal Tumor Conference
Tuesdays, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Janet Wolter, MD, Clinical and Educational Conference Room
1010 Professional Building

Clinical Trials

Surgeons at Rush recently compared laparoscopic resection with open resection for rectal cancer in a prospective, randomized clinical trial. For more information about open clinical trials, visit www.rush.edu/cancerclinicaltrials. To enroll a patient in a clinical trial, call (312) 942-0600.

For more information about the gastrointestinal cancers programs or to refer a patient for an initial visit or a second opinion, please call (312) CANCER-1 (226-2371).