Ovester Grays, athletic director and head women’s basketball coach at Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina, was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma in 2019. Through his nine months of treatment, his entire care team at Duke reassured him. “I was confident about the facts, but the emotional and the mental was nurtured every single step of the way. And it changed my life,” he said. “I’ve told my family if I’m every seriously sick, take me to Duke Hospital. They’re some of the best trained medical treatment personnel in the world. So they mean the world to me.”
![Coach Ovester Grays in the Hillside High gym](/sites/default/files/styles/sidebar_image_986/public/Ovester-1_web.jpg?itok=Ejv_k0WO)
Life-Changing Treatment
Updated
Watch Coach Grays Share His Story
In honor of Duke Cancer’s 50th anniversary, blood cancer survivor Coach Ovester Grays and DCI Executive Director Michael Kastan, MD, PhD, share their hope for the future.Written By
![Angela Spivey smiles](/sites/default/files/styles/home_small_cards/public/2023-08/angela_spivey.jpg?itok=fwM_FytE)
Angela Spivey
Duke University School of Medicine
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Introducing Summer 2024 Breakthroughs
It is likely that you or someone you care about is affected by cancer; one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. In this issue of Breakthroughs, you will see just a few of the faces of people who are bravely taking on cancer with the help of Duke Cancer Institute. We were one of the first centers in the country to treat the whole person, not just their cancer, and we continue to break new ground in support services for our patients and their families. Our Supportive Care and Survivorship Center partnered with Duke University Communications to bring you the Many Faces of Cancer photo essay featured on the cover.In this issue you’ll also read about the dedicated team that helps thousands of people at Duke and beyond reduce their dependence on tobacco, all the while contributing to the science that lies behind the newest treatments.And you will find an inspiring story of hope about a mother and physician who is benefiting from a new combination treatment for people with bladder cancer and other urothelial cancers. Our physician-scientists played a role in taking this treatment to trial. This is just one example of how DCI is rewriting the narrative for patients who previously had few options.None of this progress would be possible without you. The dedication of our donors and friends motivates us to continue pushing forward to discover, develop, and deliver tomorrow’s cancer care…today. Thank you for all that you do.Michael B. Kastan, MD, PhDExecutive Director, Duke Cancer InstituteWilliam and Jane Shingleton Professor, Pharmacology and Cancer BiologyProfessor of Pediatrics
![Bottom a family of four smiles and laughs at an outdoor table playing a game.](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_events_featured/public/blog_20240324_TaliaAron_EQ_14.jpg?itok=Cq3TDeQE)
New Hope
TALIA ARON, MD, WASN’T ALARMED AT FIRST WHEN SHE STARTED TO FEEL SOME NASTY LOWER BACK PAIN. Last September, the medical director at a telehealth company had been traveling to professional conferences for days, sitting on airplanes and in hard-backed chairs.But instead of getting better when she returned home to Greensboro, North Carolina, the pain got worse. “Looking back at a picture of me [at a conference] in Nashville, I was kind of a grey color,” Aron said.By the time she saw her OB-GYN, the pain was so bad that her physician sent her straight to the emergency department in Greensboro.Doctors at first thought that Aron had a kidney stone or infection. Then she was diagnosed with kidney cancer.When she sought a second opinion at Duke, she received what would turn out to be the correct diagnosis: a urothelial cancer that had already clawed its way into her kidney. Urothelial cancers include all cancers that grow out of cells that line the bladder and the ureters (tubes that drain urine from the kidneys to the bladder).Historically, people with advanced urothelial cancer live, on average, for sixteen months, with only 10% surviving five years or more on standard-of-care therapy.But doctors at Duke had a new treatment in mind for Aron that offered her much better odds. The only problem was, the combination therapy, developed by a medical oncologist at Duke Cancer Institute, was approved at that time only for a select population of patients. She would need help from friends and physicians at Duke and beyond to get the best treatment for her.
Related News
![Duke Cancer Institute Logo](/themes/custom/dci/images/dci_placeholder_image.png)
Introducing Summer 2024 Breakthroughs
It is likely that you or someone you care about is affected by cancer; one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. In this issue of Breakthroughs, you will see just a few of the faces of people who are bravely taking on cancer with the help of Duke Cancer Institute. We were one of the first centers in the country to treat the whole person, not just their cancer, and we continue to break new ground in support services for our patients and their families. Our Supportive Care and Survivorship Center partnered with Duke University Communications to bring you the Many Faces of Cancer photo essay featured on the cover.In this issue you’ll also read about the dedicated team that helps thousands of people at Duke and beyond reduce their dependence on tobacco, all the while contributing to the science that lies behind the newest treatments.And you will find an inspiring story of hope about a mother and physician who is benefiting from a new combination treatment for people with bladder cancer and other urothelial cancers. Our physician-scientists played a role in taking this treatment to trial. This is just one example of how DCI is rewriting the narrative for patients who previously had few options.None of this progress would be possible without you. The dedication of our donors and friends motivates us to continue pushing forward to discover, develop, and deliver tomorrow’s cancer care…today. Thank you for all that you do.Michael B. Kastan, MD, PhDExecutive Director, Duke Cancer InstituteWilliam and Jane Shingleton Professor, Pharmacology and Cancer BiologyProfessor of Pediatrics
![Bottom a family of four smiles and laughs at an outdoor table playing a game.](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_events_featured/public/blog_20240324_TaliaAron_EQ_14.jpg?itok=Cq3TDeQE)
New Hope
TALIA ARON, MD, WASN’T ALARMED AT FIRST WHEN SHE STARTED TO FEEL SOME NASTY LOWER BACK PAIN. Last September, the medical director at a telehealth company had been traveling to professional conferences for days, sitting on airplanes and in hard-backed chairs.But instead of getting better when she returned home to Greensboro, North Carolina, the pain got worse. “Looking back at a picture of me [at a conference] in Nashville, I was kind of a grey color,” Aron said.By the time she saw her OB-GYN, the pain was so bad that her physician sent her straight to the emergency department in Greensboro.Doctors at first thought that Aron had a kidney stone or infection. Then she was diagnosed with kidney cancer.When she sought a second opinion at Duke, she received what would turn out to be the correct diagnosis: a urothelial cancer that had already clawed its way into her kidney. Urothelial cancers include all cancers that grow out of cells that line the bladder and the ureters (tubes that drain urine from the kidneys to the bladder).Historically, people with advanced urothelial cancer live, on average, for sixteen months, with only 10% surviving five years or more on standard-of-care therapy.But doctors at Duke had a new treatment in mind for Aron that offered her much better odds. The only problem was, the combination therapy, developed by a medical oncologist at Duke Cancer Institute, was approved at that time only for a select population of patients. She would need help from friends and physicians at Duke and beyond to get the best treatment for her.