Duke Health Blog
Cancer Care
Read about the innovative approaches taken by Duke doctors to treat cancer -- and the people whose lives have been affected.
A Second Opinion at Duke Gives Woman with Pancreatic Cancer a Second Chance
After a lengthy surgery failed to remove a cancerous mass from her pancreas, Sharlene Mitchell’s doctors told her nothing more could be done. Mitchell, however ...
Acoustic Neuroma Technique Preserves, Restores Hearing
Duke surgeons are using cochlear implants to prevent hearing loss or to restore hearing in people who lost their hearing when benign tumors pressed on nerves i ...
HPV Vaccine: Know the Myths and the Facts
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends girls and boys ages 11 and 12 receive a vaccine to protect them against human papillomavirus (H ...
Advanced Jaw Surgery Relieves Pain in Cancer Survivor of 10+ Years
After an oral cancer diagnosis in 2010, Raleigh resident Roger Floyd was relieved when his cancer was cured. Ten years later, however, doctors discovered that ...
Sentinel Node Biopsy Helps Reduce Risk of Lymphedema
Identifying and removing sentinel lymph nodes helps doctors stage breast cancer, melanoma, and cervical cancer. Sentinel node biopsy also benefits women when e ...
Swallowing Therapy Helps Woman Overcome Dysphagia
Elizabeth Morgan, age 51, started having trouble swallowing just a few months after finishing cancer treatment. The Burlington, NC resident began choking on he ...
Device Removes Deep Brain Tumors Through Small Opening
Neurosurgeons at Duke are using a cylindrical device to reach and remove deep brain tumors. A small tube inserted through a small opening in the skull eliminat ...
Treatment Advances Give Hope to People with Brain Metastasis
Lisa VanTress didn’t know why she couldn’t regain her land legs after a 13-hour fishing trip in the summer of 2016. When the dizziness caused her to stumble an ...
Enjoying Life after Whipple Procedure for Pancreatic Cancer
No one in Kathleen O’Day’s New York hometown could figure out why she was experiencing stomach and back pain, vomiting and jaundice. At her son-in-law’s urging ...
Ovarian Cancer: What You Need to Know
As scientists gain a better understanding of ovarian cancer, their knowledge has led to improved prevention strategies, the discovery of new genes associated w ...
Tailored Treatment for Head-and-Neck Cancer Mystery
Rob Vaughn found a lump on his neck that turned out to be cancer that had spread from somewhere else in his body. The trouble was, doctors couldn’t find the or ...
Robotic Thyroid Cancer Surgery Avoids Neck Scar
To find out whether Laura Kirby had thyroid cancer, her Duke surgeon performed robot-assisted surgery through an incision under her arm. Hear from Kirby and ge ...