Here are 23 oncology firsts in 2022:
- Researchers from University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health created the first preclinical model of appendiceal cancer, opening the door for further research.
- Bridgeport, Conn.-based St. Vincent's Medical Center, a Hartford HealthCare hospital, is the first in the state to use magtrace on a woman with breast cancer.
- Fayetteville, Ark.-based Namida Lab launched the first at-home product that could detect breast cancer using tears.
- Hartford, Conn.-based Saint Francis Hospital is the first in the state to use Ion's new endoluminal system to perform a lung biopsy.
- UC San Diego Health is the first in the region to treat a patient with advanced prostate cancer with a novel drug.
- Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center revealed a new brand and logo Oct. 3 following the April merger of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
- Novant Health Wallace Cancer Institute in Salisbury is the first facility in North Carolina to offer virtual reality headsets to patients receiving cancer treatment.
- Logansport (Ind.) Memorial Hospital is one of the first to offer high-intensity focused ultrasound treatments for prostate cancer in the U.S.
- Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London found a link between pollution and lung cancer, and a possible solution to prevent it.
- Morgantown, W.Va-based WVU Cancer Institute became the first facility in the state to administer Pluvicto, a radiation pharmaceutical administered through injection or infusion, for a type of metastatic prostate cancer.
- The FDA approved Enhertu on Aug. 6; it is the first targeted therapy for HER2-low breast cancer.
- University of Florida Health in Gainesville became the first site in the Southeastern U.S., and one of 42 worldwide, to house an imaging device combining extremely detailed MRI with precision radiotherapy.
- Flint, Mich.-based McLaren Proton Therapy Center became the first in the world to offer patients proton therapy with Leo Cancer Care's upright treatment technology.
- Cleveland Clinic performed the first-in-the-world full multi-organ transplant in September to treat a patient with pseudomyxoma peritonei, a rare form of appendix cancer.
- Every rectal cancer patient in a small trial taking dostarlimab, or checkpoint inhibitors, saw remission. It was the first time this happened in cancer history.
- Detroit-based Henry Ford Health became the first in the world to complete a full course of patient treatments using the newest magnetic resonance-guided radiation therapy advancement.
- Madison, Wis.-based UW Health, the integrated health system of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, began construction on the first center in the world to offer upright proton beam cancer therapy.
- Charlottesville, Va.-based UVA Health and the Focused Ultrasound Foundation have launched the world's first cancer center focused on enhancing the effectiveness of immunotherapy treatment by combining it with focused ultrasound.
- Atlanta-based Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University opened the first immediate cancer care center in Georgia on April 18.
- Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System and Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare on April 12 said they received approval to build the state's first proton beam therapy center.
- Houston Methodist Willowbrook became the first hospital in the area to perform a transurethral ultrasound ablation, an advanced treatment for prostate cancer.
- Richmond, Va.-based VCU Massey Cancer Center became the first cancer center in the state to offer a novel MRI-guided radiation therapy for its patients.
- Researchers at the University of California San Diego Health became the first in the country to employ high-intensity, focused ultrasound as a minimally invasive prostate cancer treatment.