Moffitt Cancer Center CEO on COVID vaccines, expanding cell therapy
Skip to main content
MDHC_Logotype_white
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • This Week's News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition
    • Alaska tribal health groups distribute vaccine far and wide
      A jab on the job: Companies, unions offer COVID-19 vaccines
      Tenet's general counsel to retire at end of year
      Billions spent on coronavirus fight, but what happens next?
    • Alaska tribal health groups distribute vaccine far and wide
      Billions spent on coronavirus fight, but what happens next?
      MH school health_i.png
      How the role of school health programs might expand because of the pandemic
      HHS allocates $145 million to health center look-alikes to fight COVID-19
    • Alaska tribal health groups distribute vaccine far and wide
      Some healthcare associations moving full steam ahead with conferences starting in summer
      COVID hospitalizations in Michigan top fall surge; Beaumont seeing nurse 'burnout'
      Calls mount for Biden to track U.S. healthcare worker deaths from COVID
    • BlueCrossBlueShield_06_03_07_0.jpg
      Blue Cross bosses pocket pay hikes
      UnitedHealthcare sees Q1 profits rise and other key earnings takeaways
      California re-opens enrollment for health insurance coverage
      Insurers are partnering to offload the costs of kidney failure patients
    • Billions spent on coronavirus fight, but what happens next?
      10% of prescription drugs make up majority of Medicare drug spending, study finds
      HHS allocates $145 million to health center look-alikes to fight COVID-19
      Biden admin throws out Texas Medicaid waiver
    • Private equity's estimated healthcare spending halved in first quarter
      UH reports $54.7M operating income for 2020 despite significant COVID-related costs
      CMS issues new guidance to enforce price transparency rule
      Massachusetts to crack down on highest-cost hospitals, insurers
    • Digital health funding hit $7.2B in Q1
      The Check Up: Kevin Shimamoto
      The Check Up: Kevin Shimamoto of Valley Children's Hospital
      Bright Health scoops up telehealth startup
      FCC to open next round of COVID-19 telehealth program applications
    • Michigan expands antibody treatment to cut hospitalizations
      J&J vaccine pause a minor blip, but efforts must press on, experts say
      A year into pandemic, federal officials design new mask guidelines to better protect more workers
      FDA pauses enforcement of in-person dispensing requirement for abortion pill
    • Tenet's general counsel to retire at end of year
      Oscar names new virtual-first care division president
      Redfield joins Big Ass Fans, which promotes controversial COVID-killing technology
      Next Up Podcast: Modern Healthcare's editor Aurora Aguilar talks new content direction
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
    • The Affordable Care Act after 10 years
    • A close-up of a woman receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
      Providers in underserved communities work toward equitable vaccine distribution
      Josh Bradshaw
      How one rural Illinois county vaccinated 84% of its senior citizens by early March
      Dr. John Fischer
      Patient-reported outcomes tool for hernia surgery helps physicians improve care
      New care model helps primary-care practices treat obesity
    • A family photo of the the Hangens.
      Stressing the already burdened pediatric behavioral health system
      Jennifer Pannone and her daughter Victoria.
      Mental health access for children needs attention
      What's next for on-demand telehealth companies?
      A CalOptima PACE vaccination clinic.
      Will COVID-19 be the catalyst for creating a more sustainable healthcare system?
    • Ryan McGinnis
      Finding efficiencies in the OR using tech
      Dr. Daniel Hall
      UPMC pilots machine learning, telehealth to inform patient transfers
      A woman being recorded using her inhaler on a smartphone.
      Digital check-ins, connected inhalers help control asthma
      A phone screen showing the question, "Mary we hope this information was helpful and we'd like to keep guiding you. Are you interested in knowing when it's your turn to receive the vaccine?"
      Chatbots, texting campaigns help manage influx of COVID vax questions
  • Transformation
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Mayo Clinic launches two tech companies
      Diabetes patients at high risk for COVID-19 are managing conditions more effectively
      Nearly 1 in 5 Americans skipped care due to cost last year
      COVID-19 long-haulers need holistic treatment, providers say
    • Amazon gives out $12M under next phase of AWS diagnostics development initiative
      Malpractice premiums peak in 2020, AMA survey shows
      A rendering of a cancer research institute at the University of Southern California that will include 5G.
      Healthcare providers determine how to best use ultrafast 5G
      Two-thirds of largest hospitals aren't complying with price transparency rule
    • Hospitals face specialty pharmacy challenges with insurer competition
      Addressing long-standing barriers needed for mental and physical health integration
      A close-up of a woman receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
      Providers in underserved communities work toward equitable vaccine distribution
      The waiting room of a Kaiser Permanente clinic at a Target location.
      Health systems revamp their approach to retail clinics
    • Payers, providers clash over telehealth reimbursement as Congress mulls changes
      When money talks. Why cash pay is becoming more popular
      CMS wants to bump pay for hospices, SNFs next year
      CMMI pauses new Direct Contracting model applications
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
    • Health Systems Financials
      Executive Compensation
      Physician Compensation
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
    • Dr. Alan Kaplan
      The risks, rewards of taking organizations 'where they haven’t gone before'
      Wellstar CEO calls adapting for the pandemic her bold move
      Howard P. Kern
      Recognizing the value of telehealth in its infancy
      Dr. Stephen Markovich
      A bold move helped take him from family doctor to OhioHealth CEO
    • Drs. Hal Paz and Joshua J. Joseph
      Mobilized to fight the COVID crisis: a blueprint for community and academic partnerships
      Dr. Stephen Markovich
      Making sure we're aligned along the path to achieving inclusion
      Barry Ostrowsky
      Ending racism is a journey taken together; the starting point must be now
      Laura Lee Hall and Gary Puckrein
      Increased flu vaccination has never been more important for communities of color
    • It's time we fulfill the ACA's promise to broaden access to lower-cost drugs
      Five lessons for securing our children's future
      We're losing engaged providers, and healthcare will pay the price
      Bonnie Castillo and John Welton
      Dueling opinions: The role of mandated nurse staffing ratios
    • Letters: Eliminating bias in healthcare needs to be ‘deliberate and organic’
      Letters: Maybe dropping out of ACOs is a good thing for patients
      Letters: White House and Congress share blame for lack of national COVID strategy
      Letters: VA making strides to improve state veterans home inspections
    • Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      How blockchain could ease frustration with the payment process
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Three steps to better data-sharing for payer and provider CIOs
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Reduce total cost of care: 6 reasons why providers and payers should tackle the challenge together
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Why CIOs went from back-office operators to mission-critical innovators
  • Awards
    • Award Programs
    • Nominate
    • Previous Award Programs
    • Other Award Programs
    • Nominations Open - Top 25 Innovators
      Nominations Open May 10 - Top 25 Minority Leaders
      Nominations Open May 24 - Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Minorities in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Minority Leaders
      • - Minorities to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Excellence in Nursing Awards
    • Design Awards
    • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
    • 100 Top Hospitals
    • ACHE Awards
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Webinars
    • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • emburse certify modern healthcare custom media webinar logo lockup
      Sponsored Content Provided By Emburse
      Webinar: Making it easy to manage costs
      virtualmed staff modern healthcare custom media logo lockup
      Sponsored Content Provided By VirtualMed Staff
      Webinar: Best practices for creating a successful telepsychiatry program
      telehealth visit man touching neck while speaking to doctor on computer
      Sponsored Content Provided By Accumen
      Webinar: How telehealth has evolved into a standard of care
      Webinar: Avoid interoperability penalties. Modern Healthcare. Sponsored by Hall Render
      Webinar: Avoiding interoperability penalties
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Healthcare Transformation Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Virtual Briefings
      • - Hospital of the Future
      • - Mental Health
      • - Patient Safety & Quality
      • - Strategic Marketing
      • - Virtual Health
      • - Workplace of the Future
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Next Up Podcast: Managing the COVID-19 vaccination rollout with Dr. Gary Little
      Next Up Podcast: Modern Healthcare's editor Aurora Aguilar talks new content direction
      Dr. Chris DeRienzo
      Next Up Podcast: Building team spirit in the wake of COVID-19
      Mikelle Moore
      Next Up Podcast: Mikelle Moore on recognizing all hospital workers during the pandemic
    • Beyond the Byline: Kids' unchecked mental health needs pose long-term consequences
      Beyond the Byline: How COVID-19 has impacted hospital finances
      An older man sitting on a hospital bed with his back toward the camera.
      Beyond the Byline: Upcoding could explain why hospitals are increasingly billing for the most complex treatment
      Beyond the Byline: Insurers are betting on virtual-first plans as COVID-19 shifts care pathways
    • James garvert neustar healthcare insider podcast image
      Building on basics
      Healthcare Insider Podcast Episode Art - Premier
      Why Roger Weems and other consultants are leaving the big firms to join Premier
      James garvert neustar healthcare insider podcast image
      Outreach during COVID-19
      ann barnes healthcare insider podcast image
      Leading with intention to promote diversity and inclusion
    • The Check Up: Kevin Shimamoto
      The Check Up: Kevin Shimamoto of Valley Children's Hospital
      The Check Up: Dr. James E.K. Hildreth
      The Check Up: Dr. James E.K. Hildreth of Meharry Medical College
      The Check Up: Matt Eyles
      The Check Up: Matt Eyles of AHIP
      The Check Up: Dr. Tom Shanley
      The Check Up: Dr. Tom Shanley of Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
    • ivana naeymi-rad one on one intelligent medical objects
      Video: Ivana Naeymi Rad of Intelligent Medical Objects
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Safety & Quality
February 08, 2021 12:30 PM

Q&A: Moffitt Cancer Center CEO details plans to expand cell therapy, assess COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness

Matthew Weinstock
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Dr. Patrick Hwu

    Dr. Patrick Hwu, CEO of the Moffitt Cancer Center

    Dr. Patrick Hwu became CEO of the Moffitt Cancer Center in November. He took over at a crucial time for the Tampa, Fla., organization, which saw several leaders resign in late 2019 due to concerns over conflicts of interest regarding research being conducted in China. He wants to make Moffitt a leader in cell therapy. And in late January, Pasco County officials approved a $25 million incentive and financing deal for Moffitt to build on a 775-acre site. It includes infrastructure improvements, as well as waiving nearly $800,000 in permit fees. Hwu spoke with Modern Healthcare Managing Editor Matthew Weinstock about his plans for Moffitt, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on cancer care. The following is an edited transcript.

    MH: Coming into an organization that’s gone through a bit of turmoil, are there things that you had to address right away or since it was almost a year after the turnover, had some of that taken care of itself?

    Hwu: A lot of it had settled down already, but the bottom line is we need to help cancer patients. We still have 45,000 deaths a year in Florida, 600,000 in America and over 10 million globally, although that’s probably an underestimate. If we focus everyone on trying to cut down the number of deaths from cancer, everything aligns. Because that, in the end, is what we want—to prevent cancer and cure all these patients, and I think it’s possible.

    MH: What are some of your priorities?

    Hwu: It’s very straightforward actually. We have to implement in 2021 all of things we know are effective to prevent, treat and cure cancer patients. So we need to have widespread implementation, which includes building additional centers where we can take care of more patients. The second thing we have to do is come up with better therapies and better ways to prevent cancer. In doing both of those things, I think we can really decrease these deaths over the years and so that’s really our only goal.

    People used to tell me, “Isn’t it depressing taking care of advanced melanoma patients,” because my own clinic would turn over every six months. But now over half of my patients are doing well for many, many years because of the advances that we’ve made in targeted therapy and immunotherapy.

    MH: One of the things you’ve talked about growing at Moffitt is cell therapy. Can you talk a little bit about what that might mean both for Moffitt and for cancer care broadly?

    Hwu: Our immune systems are incredible. In fact, that’s what’s going to turn us around from COVID—stimulating the body’s immune system.

    We’ve evolved cells called lymphocytes that go around the body and try to protect against viruses, but we’ve also learned to trigger them against cancer. So when we get these immune cells, lymphocytes, touching the cancer cell they can do what I call the kiss of death, where they secrete proteins that cause the holes in the cancer membrane itself, and the cancer itself blows up. Then the immune cell goes to another cancer cell, does the kiss of death, and does the same thing.

    We’ve learned to grow these immune cells out of the body, grow them to large numbers, give them back to patients, (which) causes the tumors to regress.

    We’ve also learned to grow cells and put in genes, like CAR T-cell genes, chimeric antigen receptor genes, to help them recognize those tumor cells to cause that kiss of death. That’s a technology that we started years ago, in the early ‘90s … when I was at the National Cancer Institute. And it’s really been fun for me to see this now approved by the Food and Drug Administration for some lymphomas.

    MH: Moffitt is also expanding its physical presence. You recently got approval from Pasco County, which is putting in about $25 million in incentives, for a new project. What are you looking to do there?

    Hwu: It’s a 775-acre plot of land, which we’re very excited about. It’s a growing area and a growing community, and more and more we have to take our care out to patients. So this is going to be an important facility. We’re going to start with an outpatient facility to provide care in the clinic, and infusions, radiology, radiation. But we also hope to do some very novel kinds of treatment as well, such as carbon ion therapy, which is even the next level above proton therapy where you take a carbon ion, which is six protons, and hit it against the cancer. It should be much more effective and less toxic. We’re really excited by that. Pasco County is now helping us by putting in the interstate exchanges so it’s very easy to get to and from the (Tampa) airport.

    MH: We’ve seen in other cases, including the Mayo Clinic, backlash when these large taxpayer financial incentives come into play. Have you heard any of that from people in Pasco County?

    Hwu: (There’s been) nothing but positive feedback from everybody. They’re very excited that we’ve chosen to go in there and expand. We think it’ll ultimately result in over 14,000 jobs in the area, so it’s going to build all sorts of industries. And it will also help with the biotech entrepreneurship community.

    MH: Switching to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been seeing reports that patients are skipping some of their screenings, including for some cancers. What level of concern do you have on that front?

    Hwu: Initially we were seeing that—people did not want to come in. But then we really got on top of this and we explained to everybody that Moffitt Cancer Center, we’re probably the safest environment on the planet. Everyone gets screened, we’re all wearing masks, and we’ve had very low numbers of infections here at Moffitt. And I think cancer patients, in general, are more careful to begin with. So we’ve been able to get our activity back up to pre-COVID numbers.

    We’re also working with our communications team to make sure patients know that they need to get their mammograms, they need to get their colonoscopies, because the earlier we can catch their cancers, the more curable they are. Just because there’s COVID, cancer does not stop, so it’s really important that we get people to follow through on their appointments and their screenings.

    MH: And for a lot of cancer care, you can’t rely on telehealth as heavily as other disciplines have, right?

    Hwu: Absolutely. At the same time, we’re using a lot of telemedicine. What telemedicine is really helpful with is in between visits. They might have to come in to get an infusion or to be seen, or examined or for surgery, but in between, we could do some things on telemedicine and we’ve just scratched the surface of this.

    The other area it can help is when the patient first calls us, we can get a much better idea (about their concerns), so the first appointment is much more efficient. We have a lot of the paperwork done and we have a lot of the screening done, we know exactly what we need to do for them initially. We’ve had some positive learnings.

    MH: Regarding the vaccine, what are you seeing in terms of patients getting vaccinated and do you feel like we know enough about the impact those vaccines might have on cancer patients?

    Hwu: First, I want to point out that the COVID vaccine was developed through cancer research. It was first a cancer vaccine. (BioNTech CEO Dr.) Ugur Sahin … was a cancer researcher. He was designing vaccines against cancer and then quickly flipped that to COVID when this became an issue, so it’s not a new platform. People say, “Oh, I don’t know about a new platform.” Well, we’ve been giving this kind of RNA vaccine to cancer patients in clinical trials for years. We know it’s safe. I know that it’s going to be safe in cancer patients. We’ve immunized over 5,000 cancer patients here.

    The question is whether it is effective. Now that’s an important question and hasn’t been totally answered. At Moffitt, we’ve drawn blood samples on over 600 patients to try to answer this question. We’ve taken their blood so we can understand their development of antibodies, which is what neutralizes the COVID virus. We’re going to take it before (their vaccination); four weeks after their first vaccine we’re going to take another sample. Four weeks after the second vaccine we’re going to take another sample. And we’re going to look at six months, 12 months, 24 months, just to make sure that it’s still working. We’ll be able to define those populations.

    What I predict is that some patients, especially if they’ve had their cancer a number of years ago, will be just like the non-cancer population. But others, especially the ones who are having disorders like leukemia or lymphoma—disease of the immune system or they got Rituxan or CD19 CAR-T where they’re knocking out the B cells that make the antibodies—they may have lesser of a response and may need a third, or a fourth, vaccine to boost that up to levels that will protect them against COVID.

    MH: When do you expect to start seeing some of that data roll out?

    Hwu: Two to three months. I want to get that information as quickly as possible because it’s possible we’ll need to pull back some of those patients and say, “Hey, you need vaccine number three or vaccine number four.” So that’s why I’ve urged the teams to try to get that data almost in real time. And we’ll try to get this published just as quickly as possible, so everybody knows how to deal with this in their cancer patients.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Michigan expands antibody treatment to cut hospitalizations
    Michigan expands antibody treatment to cut hospitalizations
    J&J vaccine pause a minor blip, but efforts must press on, experts say
    J&J vaccine pause a minor blip, but efforts must press on, experts say
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Instagram

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    MDHC_Logotype_white
    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • This Week's News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Transformation
      • Patients
      • Operations
      • Care Delivery
      • Payment
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Award Programs
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Minorities in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Minority Leaders
          • - Minorities to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Nominate
      • Previous Award Programs
        • Excellence in Nursing Awards
        • Design Awards
        • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
      • Other Award Programs
        • 100 Top Hospitals
        • ACHE Awards
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Healthcare Transformation Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Virtual Briefings
          • - Hospital of the Future
          • - Mental Health
          • - Patient Safety & Quality
          • - Strategic Marketing
          • - Virtual Health
          • - Workplace of the Future
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Webinars
      • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing