![\"David](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/David-Snyder-Patient-Testimonial-STORY-1.jpg\")
A broken arm led UTMC physicians to discover David Snyder had metastatic kidney cancer. After intensive treatment, he\u2019s now 14 months in remission.<\/p><\/div>\n
Snyder didn\u2019t know it at the time, but his arm was broken \u2014 and he was about to become a very complex medical case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was in pretty good health,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cMy arm was sore, but I never considered it could be broken. I certainly didn\u2019t think it could be cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Imaging performed at a regional hospital near his Michigan home in 2021, however, showed a mass on the bone. Snyder, now 72, was told he needed to see an orthopaedic specialist.<\/p>\n
He turned to The University of Toledo Medical Center, which was able to get him an appointment within days. After a battery of tests, UTMC determined Snyder was suffering from kidney cancer that had metastasized to his arm and snapped his humerus in two.<\/p>\n
Snyder underwent multiple surgeries to remove the cancer and repair his arm. He also received radiation therapy followed by a state-of-the-art immunotherapy regimen to ensure his cancer was in remission.<\/p>\n
It was a dizzying carousel of specialists, but through it all, Snyder felt supported by the entire team at UTMC.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the people who took my temperature at the door all the way through to the top physicians that I dealt with, they were engaged with me all the way. I think where healthcare has missed the mark is when they forgot what their product was. They put more emphasis on the numbers than the product, which is customer care,\u201d he said. \u201cI did not experience that even one time in the two-and-a-half years that I was affiliated with UTMC. They have a different culture than anything I\u2019ve ever seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n
On more than one occasion UTMC staff proactively called him to reschedule appointments to days he would already be on campus for other appointments with different clinics. He said he deeply appreciated the effort, which reduced the number of times he had to make the hour-and-a-half trip from home.<\/p>\n
Dr. Danae Hamouda, a medical oncologist who treated Snyder, said a high level of coordination among specialists is vital \u2014 both for planning specific treatments and for easing the patient\u2019s burden while they are receiving care.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talk about the medication side effects and the possible side effects after surgery, but we also need to consider the patient\u2019s time commitments and the time they\u2019re spending in the hospital system,\u201d Hamouda said. \u201cWe really try hard to minimize that. When we talk about personalized care, it\u2019s not just the treatments we select but it\u2019s also considering any socioeconomic factors that may be a barrier to good treatment. I think that\u2019s something that makes UTMC special.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first step in Snyder\u2019s treatment was removing the cancerous tumor from his arm, which was performed by Dr. Michael Mott, an orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in bone and musculoskeletal cancer.<\/p>\n
In addition to removing the tumor, Mott inserted a plate to help reconnect the bone and rebuild Snyder\u2019s humerus.<\/p>\n
His case was then referred to Dr. Firas Petros, an expert in treating urologic cancers, including kidney cancer.<\/p>\n
Snyder was beyond impressed upon their first meeting. Though his latest imaging had been done late the previous day and his appointment with Petros was first thing the next morning, he said the doctor could not have been more prepared.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and I walked in there and felt like this guy must have been studying my case for years. He knew my case inside and out,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t talk to us like I was a 5th grader. He didn\u2019t talk over my head; he didn\u2019t talk at me. He did a very nice job of explaining he situation. He said you have a serious problem, but we have all the capability to address it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kidney cancer, Petros said, is unpredictable. Like any cancer, it\u2019s most treatable when it hasn\u2019t spread. Lung metastases are most common, but kidney cancer also can spread to the liver, brain, lymph nodes and \u2014 as was the case for Snyder \u2014 bones.<\/p>\n
The distant metastasis classified Snyder\u2019s cancer as stage four, but doctors found no additional cancer outside the kidney, including in nearby lymph nodes. Petros determined the best course of action was to remove Snyder\u2019s right kidney, where the cancer had originated.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis overall health was good. He didn\u2019t have any significant medical comorbidity. His cancer just had spread to his left arm, but he didn\u2019t have pulmonary metastasis,\u201d Petros said. \u201cIn patients with favorable or intermediate risk, by taking out the kidney you can prolong their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
After his kidney was successfully removed, Snyder began several weeks of radiation therapy followed by an immunotherapy called Keytruda paired with a targeted cancer-blocking drug called Lenvima.<\/p>\n
Though now a first-line treatment for advanced kidney cancer, it was a novel strategy when Snyder was treated. The data supporting the two drugs\u2019 use, Hamouda said, was only a few months old. And while both drugs had individual approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency had not yet issued an indication for their paired use in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma.<\/p>\n
\u201cCancer care is rapidly advancing and at UTMC we want to be on the forefront of that progress,\u201d Hamouda said. \u201cBeing up to date on the latest clinical data, even ahead of FDA approval, made an impact on his care. There are patients like David who are having exceptional outcomes that we would not have seen just a few years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snyder also was given a medication called Zometa to help regrow and strengthen the bone that had been broken by the cancer.<\/p>\n
Today, Snyder is cancer free and has regained 90% mobility in his left arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has an exceptional outcome,\u201d Petros said. \u201cA patient with such a complex case requires a multidisciplinary approach. There was great coordination among urology, orthopedics, radiation oncology, medical oncology and our nursing staff.\u00a0 Every single person in the hospital is important because everyone contributes a little bit to patient success. Mr. Snyder also was a good patient. He was engaged and active in his own care. I\u2019m glad that he\u2019s doing very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Snyder also enrolled in UTMC\u2019s molecular target registry clinical trial, which follows patients in remission and helps clinicians better understand how specific treatment regimens have worked over time with a goal of identifying specific signals that may help improve therapy for future cancer patients.<\/p>\n
He sees it as his way of paying it forward and advancing cancer treatment, recognizing the therapies he received were unavailable just a few short years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never felt like I was given a death sentence. I was stage 4, but the people at UTMC gave me the sense of confidence and my faith in God gave me the sense of confidence that this thing is going to be alright eventually,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m sure my outcome has a lot to do with my outlook, but I saw that same level of care with everyone. Those fears are diminished and that makes you be able to recover better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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