PHYSICIAN PROFILE
E DWA R D AG U R A , M . D .
Sammons Gift Continues to Change Landscape
for Cancer Care at Baylor
When Edward Agura, M.D., joined the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas
in 1995, he was ready for the exciting challenges and opportunities it would bring, but he probably could not have foreseen the growth and opportunity that Baylor has experienced since that
Baylor Health Care System is grateful to the men and women of Sammons Enterprises, Inc. for their commitment to making
a difference in the communities where their employees live and work. In 2010, the Sammons Dallas Foundation made a $20
million gift to benefit cancer initiatives at Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center. Most recently, the Men and Women of
Sammons donated $150,000 to support a novel genetic detection mechanism for patients diagnosed with hematologic diseases.
time. Nineteen years later, Dr. Agura currently serves as medical director for Baylor’s Bone Marrow
Transplant program, one of the leading blood and bone marrow transplant programs in the United
States. In 1982, Dr. Agura received his medical degree from New York University and subsequently
joined the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, where he was trained
“The men and women of Sammons
Enterprises work hard to make our company
successful which enables us to give back to
the community,” said Sammons CEO
Heather Kreager. “Baylor has consistently
demonstrated excellent stewardship of the
funds provided by Sammons. We believe the
research supported by this gift will help
Baylor in its mission to provide the highest
level of clinical services and patient care. We
are proud to have the Sammons name associated with cancer care at Baylor.”
Hematological diseases, such as leukemia,
lymphoma and myeloma, are inherited
disorders, which can affect the marrow
within the bone. Following diagnosis of a
hematologic disease, patients often undergo
intensive chemotherapy to eradicate the cancer followed by a blood or bone marrow
transplant, a standard treatment protocol
that has saved countless lives.
Unfortunately, cancer can be tenaciously
persistent. An estimated 25 percent of
patients with hematological cancer will experience a relapse of their cancer diagnosis,
often in a treatment-resistant or widely
spread form of the original disease.
Thanks to the support received from the
Men and Women of Sammons, Edward
Agura, M.D., medical director of the Bone
Marrow Transplant program at Baylor
Dallas, and his colleagues are working to
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the torch | spring 2014
create an extremely sensitive DNA-based
blood test for early detection of cancer cells.
Earlier identification of cancer cells would
allow physicians to begin treatment before
the cancer has the opportunity to progress
to later stages of advancement, when detection becomes easier but treatment is more
difficult.
The patient-specific genetic detection
mechanisms under research at Baylor will
enable the laboratory to detect as little as one
cancer cell in 1 million – a method which is
10,000 times more sensitive than those currently available to clinicians. Armed with
this information, clinicians would
follow a treatment protocol which is designed
to eradicate “the last cancer cell,” according
to Dr. Agura.
More cancer patients are treated at Baylor
Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center and
Baylor Health Care System facilities than at
any other care provider in North Texas.
Statewide, Baylor is second only to M.D.
Anderson in Houston in number of patient