2019 Clinical Investigator of the Year award recognizes GI cancer expert

Sukeshi Patel Arora, M.D.

Sukeshi Patel Arora, M.D., arrived at UT Health San Antonio for training 12 years ago. A graduate of UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, she returned to her hometown to complete her internal medicine residency and chose to stay here for a medical hematology and oncology fellowship.

During her residency, Dr. Arora, a medical oncologist, said she spent time in the clinics at the Mays Cancer Center and began understanding the depths of the behind-the-scene work required to offer clinical trials to patients with cancer.

“When I became a clinical fellow, I chose to concentrate on gastrointestinal (GI) cancers,” said Dr. Arora, who became a faculty member after completing her training. “I was drawn to GI cancers because there is a big variety of types of cancer. We have come a long way on some of them, such as colon cancer, that if detected early enough, is curable. However, some, like pancreatic or liver cancer, still require much research in order to improve treatments and survival.”

“Since joining the faculty less than six years ago, Dr. Arora, holder of the John Eiler Endowed Professorship in Cancer Research, has become an exceptionally talented clinical investigator working in GI with a special emphasis on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is the most common liver cancer in adults,” said Anand Karnad, M.D., who nominated her for the 2019 Clinical Investigator of the Year Award from the Mays Cancer Center.

“Dr. Arora is an emerging leader in geriatric oncology with a national and international reputation. She is a role model oncologist: a gifted and empathic clinician who truly cares for her patients and has a superb rapport with her patients and their family members.
“She demonstrates superb leadership abilities and leads her clinical disease site team from a position of strength. Everyone knows how hard she works, and that she leads by example,” said Dr. Karnad, professor of medicine and program director of the Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Training Program. He holds the Karen Lee and David Zachry Distinguished Chair in Women’s Cancer and the School of Medicine Distinguished Chair in Aging Research.

Dr. Arora said being chosen the 2019 Clinical Investigator of the Year is a tremendous honor. “It was completely unexpected. I can still remember being a fellow and watching every year when the winner of this award was announced. It was so inspiring to learn about the work being done here. This award has a lot of meaning to me since I grew up as a trainee and now a faculty member at this institution.”

As a fellow, she began working with Devalingam Mahalingam, M.D., Ph.D., a former oncologist at the Mays Cancer Center. “I learned from him how to conduct clinical trials and how to apply for grants,” she said. “Now, I am leading the GI group. Clinical trials allow me to provide my patients access to better treatments but also the ability to pave the way for future patients and change their journey in cancer care.”

Dr. Arora said she chose to concentrate on HCC because liver cancer is especially prevalent in South Texas. “When I started as a fellow, we only had one drug for liver cancer; everything else we offered was part of clinical trials. Since that time, in just the last three years, the FDA has approved six more drugs, with more to come.

“Because HCC is so prevalent in our patient population here, we are able to offer patients access to new drugs through clinical trials,” she said. “While it is not a common cancer, it is more prevalent here than in other parts of the country.”

With half of her patients over the age of 65, Dr. Arora also has developed an excellent reputation as a geriatric oncologist, Dr. Karnad explained. “Her focus on the elderly will be especially important to the Mays Cancer Center as ‘Aging and Cancer’ is destined to be one of the programs that could be developed rapidly for moving to a Comprehensive Cancer designation” by the National Cancer Institute, he added.

Speaking of her older adult cancer patients, Dr. Arora said she hopes to continue to develop drugs at the cancer center for this population. “We must test the effectiveness and toxicity of drugs in our older adults with cancer.

“We must concentrate on their quality of life. We do not want to treat them with a cancer drug that makes them lose their independence. We must take into consideration what matters to this special population of patients.”

Dr. Arora credits the entire clinical investigation team for the 2019 award. “I have to thank the nurses, regulatory and research team, schedulers and the patients. All of them make the hours and work worth it. This work is impossible without them.”

Calling her patients strong and inspiring, Dr. Arora said patients with GI cancers are especially resilient. “They have a positive outlook on life. They want to participate in clinical trials. They are of all ages and come from all backgrounds, but these patients share a common spirit of wanting to beat cancer and continue living their lives.”