It was a feeling of helplessness that led Mark Evers, MD, a gastrointestinal surgeon, to pursue cancer research.
"As a surgeon focused on gastrointestinal problems, I was excited about the opportunities to actually effect a 'cure' by surgical resection of early cancers that were still localized and had not metastasized to lymph nodes or systemic organs," he told Becker's. "However, encountering patients whose cancers had spread left me feeling helpless as a surgeon to fully impact patient survival. Influenced by outstanding mentors, this feeling of helplessness led to my research interests focused on cancer signaling pathways leading to tumor progression and metastasis."
He has been studying the basic mechanisms of cancer progression for over 30 years and now, Dr. Evers serves as the director of the Lexington, Ky.-based UK Markey Cancer Center.
There is much Dr. Evers is proud of, such as his center's cancer screening efforts, which have brought Kentucky to the second in the country for lung cancer screening, "which is truly remarkable given the past culture of tobacco production and tobacco consumption."
However, he has two concerns about the oncology field.
"The first is the alarming decrease in the number of clinician-scientists that has occurred over the last 10-15 years," he said. "The clinician-scientist remains the bedrock of translational research teams, and the team benefits tremendously from their clinical expertise and background as well as their passion for finding new discoveries that would augment strategies to prevent or treat cancers."
The second is the decrease in philanthropic and agency funding for cancer studies.
"With the number of discoveries and new treatment strategies that have come about from research, now is not the time to decrease funding," he said. "Alternatively, funding should be increased if we are to maintain our current momentum and trajectory."