World Class
Why pancreatic cancer patients fly thousands of miles to be treated in Milwaukee
Yuval Makovsky, a 45-year-old from Israel, was used to jetting around the world for his job in business. What he never expected was that he’d fly halfway across the world to Milwaukee to be treated for cancer.
After a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in April 2021, Makovsky began exploring international treatment options. “It was clear this would be a complicated surgery, and a lot of the success would be dependent on the surgeon and the hospital,” he says. An Israeli medical consultant told him about Froedtert’s world-renowned pancreatic cancer program, and Makovsky flew to Milwaukee for the first time in July.
Pancreatic cancer is, indeed, one of the most challenging cancers to treat. Susan Tsai, director of Froedtert’s LaBahn Pancreatic Cancer Program, says it’s rarer and harder to screen than other types. By the time someone learns they’ve got the disease, it’s often more advanced.
That’s especially harrowing given the high rates of pancreatic cancer here in Wisconsin. Genetic factors play a strong role in developing the disease, as do lifestyle choices like smoking. There’s no empirical evidence yet, but Tsai says it’s possible environmental exposure – say, hours logged in a mill – could impact Wisconsin’s rates, too. (The Fox Valley, home to paper mills, is a hot spot.)
Froedtert has always treated the toughest cancers, but the hospital’s 2009 recruitment of Dr. Douglas Evans, an internationally renowned pancreatic surgeon and surgical oncologist, changed everything. Historically, doctors had treated pancreatic cancer with surgery followed by systemic treatments like chemo and radiation. In clinical trials, Evans pioneered the use of chemotherapy before a patient’s surgery, nearly doubling the 24-month average post-surgery survival rate.
Today, MCW researchers continue searching for ways to extend that. “We’re happy with the near doubling of survival, but when you talk to a person who has the disease, four years isn’t acceptable,” says Tsai. That tenacity, coupled with a world-class care team, draws patients from around the world.
Makovsky completed chemo last summer, then returned to Froedtert for surgery in September 2021. Today, cancer-free, he’s evidence that ingenuity pays off. “People tend to think of pancreatic cancer as a death sentence,” says Tsai. “We’re trying to flip the script on that and give patients more hope.”