For retired United States Navy SEAL Captain Rob Newson, advancing care for service members is a personal mission. Inspired by his service and own cancer battle, Capt. Newson helps lead a visionary partnership with City of Hope’s TGen.
He was 27 years into his military career when Newson was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Concerned by the aggressive presentation, his care team inquired about potential hazardous exposures he may have experienced during service.
“I’m sure I have been [exposed], but I have no idea to what,” recalled Newson, “but it was a strange feeling to be a fairly young man in the gerontology oncology department with 70- and 80-year-old men.”
Part of the elite special forces of service members, Navy SEALs represent only 3% of active duty Navy members and yet 36.7% of all cancer cases in the entire U.S. Navy belong to SEALs; Newson was used to being on the front line. His cancer diagnosis placed him in a growing group of U.S. Special Operations Forces service members battling cancer.
Investigating Causes and Providing Targeted Cancer Treatment
While there are compelling theories for these high cancer rates, such as exposure to hazardous materials and the unique stressors of military service, research to date has not confirmed the specific causes of these cancers or suggested an intervention to address them. To find answers to these vital questions, scientists at TGen are embarking on a novel precision medicine research study of U.S. Special Operation Forces veterans with cancer to learn more about the causes of these cancers and bring individualized care to service members. Under the joint leadership of Jeffrey M. Trent, F.A.C.M.G.G., Ph.D., TGen’s president and research director, and Aleksander Sekulic, M.D., Ph.D., TGen’s physician-in-chief, the program will enhance cancer prevention and treatment strategies for military members and veterans across the nation.
Empowered by the generosity of donors, the study will be aided by the Soteria Precision Medicine Foundation and utilize their framework to deliver precision medicine to patients. Through a state-of-the-art framework, genomics and clinical research, we can advance care for our service members.