Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute

More than 234,580 individuals in the U.S will hear the words 'You have lung cancer' this year alone. With symptoms often emerging too late for effective treatment, early detection becomes a crucial lifesaver. Let's unite and raise awareness on the importance of regular check-ups.

Lung Cancer By the Numbers: 2024 | McLaren Health Care News Early detection is key for this leading cause of cancer-related death. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, with approximately 234,580 new cases expected just this year. Unfortunately, as lung cancer does not present with noticeable symptoms during its early stages...

Don't let spooky symptoms haunt you this Halloween! McLarenNow Virtual Care is here to provide 24/7 access to health care from the comfort of your home. Whether it's a sudden scare of cold, flu, or other common illnesses, our expert providers are just a click away. If anything happens while trick-or-treating, get quick and convenient care on the go without leaving your Halloween fun. With McLaren Now Virtual Care, you can connect with health care providers anytime, anywhere using your smartphone, tablet, or computer for virtual visits.

Don't let health troubles put a hex on your Halloween fun. Stay safe and healthy with McLarenNow Virtual Care! To learn more or to see a provider Now, visit https://mclarenhealthcare.org/44rGHV8.

During October, don’t forget to also pull out your green gear to help spread awareness for liver cancer! Learn more about the signs, symptoms and risk factors for liver cancer by visiting

Wear Green in October to Bring Awareness to This Cancer | Karmanos News Did you know that October is not only Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but it is also Liver Cancer Awareness Month? Though pink is the prevalent color when spreading breast cancer awareness, emerald green signifies liver cancer . Worldwide, this disease is a leading cause of cancer deaths. Diagnoses o...

The first lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) surgery in the greater Lansing area was performed this summer at McLaren. This state-of-the-art spinal surgery approaches the spine from the side to remove the damaged disc and replaces it with a bone graft, stabilizing the spine, reducing pain and restoring mobility.

New Approach in Spine Surgery Can Lead to Quicker Recovery | McLaren Health Care News Have you been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, low-grade spondylolisthesis, or mild to moderate scoliosis, or have chronic back pain that hasn’t improved with physical therapy or other treatment methods? Then a lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) surgery might be the answer for you. "L...

There are a number of signs you should keep an eye out for between receiving your annual mammogram when it comes to detecting breast cancer. While these signs may not always mean cancer, you should never ignore them.

Read more about the possible signs of breast cancer.

Here’s What You Should Know About Breast Cancer Signs, Symptoms and Screening | McLaren Health Care News The best way to catch breast cancer early is to receive an annual mammogram once you turn 40. Some women will receive mammograms before that age due to their risk of developing breast cancer, especially if they have a first-degree relative diagnosed with breast cancer. However, there are other risk....

Do you have Asthma? Learn more about an opportunity to contribute to the advancement of asthma research through an upcoming clinical trial with McLaren Health Care. https://mclarenhealthcare.org/3ZelEFV

When Laurie Tucker found a lump in her left breast during a self-exam in June 2023, she did not waste any time getting in to see her doctor.

Teacher Passes Many Tests Along Her Cancer Journey | McLaren Health Care News When Laurie Tucker found a lump in her left breast during a self-exam in June 2023, she did not waste any time getting in to see her doctor.  “She sent me for a mammogram. I had not had one since 2019,” Laurie said. “After the test, I had to go into a separate room and talk to the radiolo...

Feeling anxious about your upcoming mammogram? The fear is real but so is the fact that early detection of breast cancer can significantly increase survival rates. Check out our guide for preparing for a screening and spread the word to save lives. 💖 Let's conquer fears together one mammogram at a time! 🎗️

Mammogram: Preparing for a Breast Cancer Screening | McLaren Health Care News Preparing can help ease any potential anxiety during a screening. Anxiety, stress, and the anticipation of potential discomfort during a mammogram are to be expected. The importance of screenings and their ability to save lives through the detect of breast cancer in its earliest, most treatable stag...

Congratulations, Dr. Butki!

Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to the fight against breast cancer. This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, take the opportunity to learn, screen and detect early. Understand the impact of this disease by looking at the numbers. Together, we can drive change.💪💗

Breast cancer by the numbers: 2024 | McLaren Health Care News Awareness, regular screenings, and early detection are all crucial in the care and treatment of breast cancer. This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, learn more about the profound impact this disease has on the lives of so many by taking a closer look at the far-reaching, eye-opening statistics of the....

Swimming started as a way to help Jean Craig-Flynn get through a tremendous loss, but it has no doubt benefitted her in many other ways. In fact, that daily exercise is likely one reason Jean is aging so gracefully.

Aging Secrets From a 98-Year-Old Who is Doing it Gracefully | McLaren Health Care News At 98-years-young Jean Craig-Flynn swims for an hour every day.  She took the sport up when she was in her 70s. “My husband Richard and I were high school sweethearts, married 53 years. When he died, I was having a tough time with the grief process,” Jean remembered. “I went up to our cot...

The rise in diabetes among young adults is a cause for concern. Newly recommended, early diabetes screening now starts at 35. Don't wait, take preventative steps today and help combat this worrying health trend. Know your numbers, manage your lifestyle.

Prediabetes and Diabetes: On the Rise | McLaren Health Care News Lifestyle changes can help prevent a diabetes diagnosis. A significant, worrisome rise in diabetes diagnoses among the younger population of the United States has prompted a change to the official screening recommendation to become more inclusive and combat the disease. The U.S. Preventive Services....

“I’d had a couple of heart attacks before and I knew that wasn’t what was going on, but I sure didn’t think it could be a stroke."

U.P. Stroke Patient Commits to Clinical Trial While Receiving Care at McLaren Flint | McLaren Health Care News Roger Parr was shocked to learn the dizziness he experienced while standing and walking over the course of a week were signs of mini strokes taking place in his brain. “I’d had a couple of heart attacks before and I knew that wasn’t what was going on, but I sure didn’t think it could be a st...

Gynecologic cancers are those that directly affect those with a female reproductive system. These cancers include cervical, endometrial, ovarian, vaginal, and vulvar. While the development of these cancers comes with symptoms, it is important to note that the early signs of these cancers are familiar to females.

Learn more about the importance of knowing the signs.

The 5 Most Common Gynecologic Cancers: What Is Your Risk? | Karmanos News Gynecologic cancers are often referred to as silent diseases because many of the early symptoms are familiar to females and can be easily missed. According to the American Cancer Society, more females will be diagnosed with gynecologic cancer in 2024 than colon cancer. Among the five most common gyn...

KSP, McLaren's Specialty Pharmacy, is celebrating its fifth anniversary at their Troy location, a notable milestone in its journey toward providing patients with necessary medications! Happy fifth year anniversary to our KSP team! 💙 👏

KSP Celebrates Five Years of Dedicated Service to Providing Specialty Medications for Complex Diseases Throughout Michigan, Indiana and Ohio | McLaren Health Care News KSP , McLaren’s Specialty Pharmacy, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year at its Troy location, a notable milestone in its journey toward providing patients with necessary medications. Since its inception, KSP’s mission has been to provide exceptional patient care and customer service t...

Early detection is key in the fight against prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men. With screening tests, we can spot the signs even when there are no symptoms. Conversations about screening and treatments are key. Let's talk about it. 💙 💬

Conversations Are a Big Part of Prostate Cancer Screening and Treatment | Karmanos News Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, and the second most deadly, after lung cancer. There are screening tests available that can help detect prostate cancer at early stages when the patient may not feel any signs or symptoms, but these tests cannot diagnose the disease. If one or mor...

Congratulatory news for the health care sector. Three chief executives from McLaren Health Care & Karmanos were acknowledged in DBusiness Magazine's 'Detroit 500' list. This prestigious recognition includes Philip A. Incarnati, President and CEO of McLaren Health Care, Boris C. Pasche, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, President and CEO of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, and Brian R. Gamble, President of the Karmanos Cancer Hospital and Karmanos Cancer Network. Read more about their achievements: https://www.mclaren.org/main/news/three-mclaren-health-care-karmanos-cancer-institut-5244

https://www.mclaren.org/main/news/three-mclaren-health-care-karmanos-cancer-institut-5244

Three McLaren Health Care, Karmanos Cancer Institute Top Executives Recognized in DBusiness Magazine’s ‘Detroit 500’ List | McLaren Health Care News President and CEO of McLaren Health Care, Philip A. Incarnati, President and CEO of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Boris C. Pasche, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, and President of the Karmanos Cancer Hospital and Karmanos Cancer Network, Brian R. Gamble, have been included in this year’s “Detroi...

Our team at the ROC absolutely ROCKS! They and the rest of our staff continue to give their best, despite interruptions to our technological abilities. We want to thank the ROC staff for staying cool and professional, putting our patients’ needs above everything else during this difficult time. Our employees are truly the heart of everything we do at Karmanos!

The third annual McLaren Adaptive Golf Clinic hosted golfers with disabilities in Grand Blanc Township to help them improve their game. The inspiring event proved anyone can play like a pro when provided with the right training and equipment.

Golfers with disabilities find their stride at adaptive golf clinic A clinic held for golfers with disabilities in Grand Blanc Township proved anyone can golf like a pro when provided with the right training and equipment.

When times are tough, it is vital to know you can count on the people around you. We are humbled by the response of our team in the wake of a cyber-attack. Despite massive challenges, they continue to provide our patients with the best care possible. We cannot express our gratitude for our staff enough. Thank you all for your dedication every day.

McLaren continues its efforts to fully restore its operations following last week’s criminal cyber attack. We continue to work with cyber security experts to determine if any patient or employee data was impacted. This is critical to our community and our teams, and it is a priority for us.

Our hospitals and clinics have been largely operational, but we would like to update our patients and community about the status of the limited clinical services that have been impacted. Our focus is on ensuring patients get the care they expect when they need it.

Emergency Services

Emergency departments continue to be operational and open to patients arriving for care. A few locations are on ambulance diversion for certain conditions (meaning emergency teams will transport patients to the next closest facility), and those locations remain in regular communication with their local medical control authorities to ensure efficient coordination between facilities. The Comprehensive Stroke Centers at McLaren Flint and McLaren Macomb, though, are fully operational.

Cancer Care

As of August 12, all radiation therapy units at Karmanos Cancer Institute care facilities across the state are operational – with some sites having started treating patients over the weekend. This includes Gamma Knife Radiosurgery in Farmington Hills and the McLaren Proton Therapy Center in Flint. Patients whose appointments were delayed should expect a call from their care team, who are working diligently to reschedule appointments.

Primary and Specialty Care Clinics

Primary and specialty care offices are largely operational and patients can make appointments, though some continue to experience intermittent issues with their phone systems. Additionally, the McLarenNow virtual care platform is fully operational and can be accessed at https://mclarenhealthcare.org/44rGHV8

Patient Guidelines

Our team members continue to have limited access to information technology systems so patients may experience longer than usual wait times. Patients are requested to bring the following information to their appointment:

1. A list of current medications or empty prescription bottles
2. Printed physician orders for imaging studies or treatments
3. Printed results of recent lab tests available in the patient portals
4. A list of allergies

We remain truly grateful for the tireless effort and dedication displayed by our team members under these demanding circumstances, and we sincerely regret any impact this cyber attack may have had on our patients.

We already knew our team had a passion for excellent patient care, but this week we have witnessed this on a new level. Despite many technological setbacks inflicted by a cyber-attack, the Karmanos and McLaren staff have displayed a remarkable level of professionalism. We cannot thank our employees enough for their commitment to ensuring our patients receive the best possible care under challenging circumstances.

McLaren Health Care can now confirm the disruption to our information technology and phone systems that was reported yesterday was the result of a criminal cyber attack. Our information technology team continues to work with external cyber security experts to analyze the nature of the attack and mitigate the impacts of the threat actors. At this time, we have not determined if any patient or employee data was compromised.

Impact on Operations

Immediately after becoming aware of the attack, our hospitals and outpatient clinics instituted downtime procedures to ensure care delivery within our facilities. Several information technology systems continue to operate in downtime procedures while we work to fully restore functionality to our system. We have policies and procedures in place and train for information technology disruptions. We are grateful for the response from our frontline caregivers and staff who have come together to provide care under these circumstances.

Currently, our facilities are largely operational and able to care for our communities and will continue to do so until operations are fully restored. Our emergency departments continue to be operational, most surgeries and procedures continue to be performed, and our physician offices continue to see as many patients as possible. During this time of limited access to our systems, and out of an abundance of caution, some non-emergent appointments, tests, and treatments are being rescheduled.

In addition, we are also actively working with our vendor partners and insurance providers to ensure our supply chain is not impacted and insurance authorizations are processed for care and treatments.

Guidance for Patients

Patients with scheduled appointments should plan to attend those appointments unless they are contacted by a member of our care team. Our team will work diligently with any patient who has an appointment rescheduled. During this disruption, we are requesting patients bring any of the following information they may have to their appointments:

1. A list of current medications or prescription bottles
2. Printed physician orders for imaging studies or treatments
3. Printed results of recent lab tests available in the patient portals
4. A list of allergies

Response from Team Members and the Community

McLaren is incredibly grateful and humbled by the response of our team members and medical staff who have pulled together under these difficult circumstances to provide our communities with the care they need. Our team members and medical staffs are displaying unbelievable, heartfelt compassion and camaraderie during this extended downtime. On behalf of our patients and communities, we want to extend a sincere thank you.

To the communities we are honored to serve, we deeply and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the attack by these malicious threat actors has caused. We truly appreciate the understanding of our patients, their families and loved ones, and the visitors to our facilities.

Our caregivers and support teams are working as hard as ever, and the community's patience and support is sincerely recognized and appreciated.

While McLaren Health Care continues to investigate a disruption to our information technology system, we want to ensure our teams are as prepared as possible to care for patients when they arrive.

Patients with scheduled appointments should plan to attend those appointments unless they are contacted by a member of our care team. Out of an abundance of caution, some non-emergent or elective procedures may be rescheduled. Our team will work diligently with any patient who has an appointment rescheduled.

During this disruption, we are also requesting patients bring any of the following information they may have to their appointments:

1. A list of current medications or empty prescription bottles
2. Printed physician orders for imaging studies or treatments
3. Printed results of recent lab tests
- McLaren Health Care - patient portal: https://mclarenhealthcare.org/3SFS881
- Karmanos - patient portal: https://mclarenhealthcare.org/3SDoPms
4. A list of allergies

We understand this situation may be frustrating to our patients - and to our team members - and we deeply and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We kindly ask for your patience while our caregivers and support teams work as diligently as ever to provide our communities the care they need and deserve.

McLaren Health Care is experiencing a disruption to our information technology platforms and telephone systems. We are working to determine the extent of the disruption and do not have a timeframe to restore functionality.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our patients.

Congratulations to Jugmohit Toor, a third-year Wayne State University School of Medicine student, for being selected by the National Cancer Institute to receive the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Individual M.D.-Ph.D. fellows! Read more about it by clicking below!

M.D.-Ph.D. Student Wins National Cancer Institute Training Grant | Karmanos News The National Cancer Institute has awarded Jugmohit Toor, a third-year Wayne State University School of Medicine student, the   Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Individual M.D.-Ph.D. fellows. Jugmohit is an M.D.-Ph.D. student in the Cancer Biology Graduate Program. This NC...

Earlier this month, we partnered up with the Detroit Tigers for the 2024 Prostate Cancer Awareness Night, and we hit it out of the park once again! To recap the night with us, click below.

A Grand Slam at Comerica Park, Spreading Awareness and Celebrating Survivors with Detroit Tigers | Karmanos News The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute’s fourth annual Prostate Cancer Awareness Night with the Detroit Tigers and McLaren Health Care, the official health care system of the Tigers, was a home run on Monday, July 8. Hundreds of prostate cancer survivors and their loved ones were brought togeth...

Did you know that with every degree rise in your body's internal temperature, your heart rate can increase by 10 beats per minute? 🌡️ It's a chilling reality of how extreme heat can strain the heart. Stay cool and ensure your heart's health! 💓☀️

Your heart in the heat | McLaren Health Care News Excessive heat can be dangerous in many ways, but it’s especially dangerous for a certain group of people. If it’s hot outside, the body will respond in order to cool itself. It’s a natural process — one in which the heart plays a large and crucial role . On those hot days, though, the body....

Did you know that since the first immunotherapy drug to boost the body’s immune response against advanced lung cancer was introduced in the U.S. in 2015, survival rates of patients with the disease have improved significantly?
Read more about the breakthrough below.

Investigators: Advanced Lung Cancer Deaths Dropped Since Immunotherapy Became Standard-of-care | Karmanos News Since the first immunotherapy drug to boost the body's immune response against advanced lung cancer was introduced in the U.S. in 2015, survival rates of patients with the disease have improved significantly. That's the conclusion of a recent real-world...

Congratulations Dr. Charles Schiffer, retired Karmanos hematologist and medical oncologist, for receiving one of two Mentor Awards from the American Society of Hematology! To read more about this accomplishment, click below.

An Unparalleled Mentor: Retired Karmanos Physician-Scientist to Receive 2024 ASH Honorific Award | Karmanos News The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has announced that Charles A. Schiffer, M.D., will be presented with one of two ASH Mentor Awards. Dr. Schiffer will receive his award during the 66 th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition in December in San Diego, California. Dr. Schiffer retired as a hematolog...

Check out our new Detroit FutureHealers Program, giving high school students the opportunity to tour the cancer center, and learn from professionals all at different stages in their professional careers.

New Detroit FutureHealers Program Gave Students First-hand Look at Cancer Care and Research | Karmanos News The Karmanos Cancer Institute's Detroit's FutureHealers program is presenting a unique opportunity to high school students in the Detroit area. A program once known as FocuSSTEM NextGen, is now a fresh opportunity for students to make connections in the...

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute will host its 6th Annual Lymphoma Symposium in Detroit, MI, on August 3rd. You will have the opportunity to hear from experts on the latest in their research! To register and view more information regarding the event visit: www.karmanos.org/lymphomasymposium

Are you interested in learning more about our CAPABLE Program? Principal investigator Dr. Jennifer Beebe-Dimmer recently joined WOMC to discuss the program's goals and the sessions they are currently recruiting for.

To listen, visit

Karmanos Podcasts To make an appointment, please call 1-800-KARMANOS (1-800-527-6266)

We're excited to welcome Hassan Nasser, M.D., Head and Neck Surgical Oncologist, to Team Karmanos!

To learn more about Dr. Nasser, visit his physician profile https://mclarenhealthcare.org/3zNDkxK

Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute Karmanos Cancer Institute’s mission is to lead in transformative cancer care, research and education

Are you a cancer survivor looking for ways to get back to exercising after treatment? Look no further! Cross-Training and Physical Activity: A Better Life Experience, also known as CAPABLE, is an exercise program designed specifically for cancer survivors to help them improve their quality of life after treatment.

To learn more, visit https://mclarenhealthcare.org/3IHHt7q