Tulsa cancer patient now gets treatment closer to home thanks to OU, Hillcrest Partnership

A Tulsa woman now gets her cancer treatments five minutes from home, instead of in Oklahoma City, because of the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center's new partnership with Hillcrest.

Chemotherapy did not work for Sara Snow, so she is also using a newly approved drug to fight her cancer.

Snow was an English teacher in Tulsa and was married for 40 years before suddenly losing her husband, Philip, in 2022.

"That first year was spent just trying to get reorganized and how to live in a world without him, and then you know, here comes the cancer diagnosis,” Snow said. “So it's very hard for me to even remember a normal life before, truthfully."

Treatments Closer to Home

Snow’s cancer treatments are now down the street from her house.

"It's fabulous. It's fabulous. Less than five minutes away,” Snow said.

Some of her first words at treatment on Friday were of gratitude.

"I'm very lucky. I have the best doctors, the best neighbors. I have good insurance,” Snow said.

She was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroendocrine carcinoma last spring and told that with treatment, she would have 18 months to live. Snow said she is not alone, and points to her friend Robert, and her family's support.

"Every need I had was met,” Snow said. “And I attribute some of that to just grace. I didn't deserve all the good things that kept falling in place. I didn't deserve all that, but they were sure happening."

As of last summer, cancer patients in Tulsa have access to National Cancer Institute-designated care without having to travel out of the city. Previously, the only NCI-designated center in Oklahoma was in Oklahoma City, requiring patients to make long trips for treatment.

Sara’s Treatment

"Her disease is pretty aggressive,” Oncologist Dr. Kyle Brett said. “So there's a lot of different types of neuroendocrine cancers. Some of them are not very aggressive, and hers, unfortunately, is very aggressive."

Dr. Kyle Brett is Sara's doctor at the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center at Hillcrest. She’s a Clinical Assistant Professor at OU Health Sciences Center, and also serves as the Medical Director for the Clinical Trial Office for the Stephenson Cancer Center at Hillcrest.

To understand Snow’s treatment, Dr. Brett says: Imagine your immune system is a police force. Other immunotherapies put gas in the officers’ cars to help them move around. But the drug Snow is being treated with is like giving those officers a mug shot, and the cancer is the bad guy.

“And so, if we can teach that police force to recognize the cancer as being something that it needs to go after, then that immune system is very smart, it can adapt, it can evolve, it can learn how to target the cancer,” Dr. Brett said.

Snow’s treatment is called bispecific T-cell engager (BiTE) therapy. Dr. Brett said the drug Snow is receiving is called Tarlatamab. Dr. Brett said that before the summer of 2024, this drug class did not exist for any type of solid tumor malignancies. It only existed for leukemia and lymphoma.

“Introducing it to solid tumors is new and groundbreaking,” Dr. Brett said.

What’s Ahead

Dr. Brett: "Are you doing anything fun for Easter?"

Snow: "Gonna keep it kind of low key. I ordered food from Lambrusco’z."

Dr. Brett: "OK, hold on, did you get the Mary Brett casserole?

Snow: "No, but I've had that before."

Dr. Brett: "That's my grandmother's casserole."

Snow:” Oh my gosh, see, small world, ok."

With Snow's plans already set for Easter, she tries not to look too far ahead and instead chooses to live in the moment.

"It's always been the small things with me, always,” she said. “I've done the trips, I have a nice car. It's six years old. I don't lust or long for anything like that. I just want to enjoy each day."