World-Renowned Leukemia Specialist Now Treating Patients at Sylvester

Patients with Blood and Bone Marrow Cancers are Taking Extra Precautions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dr. Mikkael Sekeres is the new Chief of Hematology and leukemia specialist at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Health System. For more information about Dr. Sekeres and the hematology department, click here or visit the UHealth blog.

MEET DR. MIKKAEL SEKERES

Meet Dr. Mikkael Sekeres, the new Chief of Hematology, and a world-renowned leukemia specialist now treating patients at Sylvester.

“We have new combinations of therapies that we’re trying. And most importantly, we have the latest and greatest clinical trials that are looking at the treatments that will become the standards even years from now. We’re able to offer that to patients today,” says Dr. Sekeres.

“So let’s talk about people who are suffering from some sort of blood disorder now complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Focusing on You anchor Pam Giganti says.

“People who have blood disorders, particularly blood cancers are at a much higher risk of not only getting very sick from the virus, but also potentially even dying,” Dr. Sekeres says.

“So they’re just acutely aware of this,” he goes on to say. “They avoid enclosed spaces where they’re with other people, even if they’re people who’ve been vaccinated, because people who’ve been vaccinated can still carry the virus and pass it onto somebody else.”

New treatments for leukemia have significantly increased survival in the past decades.

“That’s a testimony to advances in therapy for patients, and also to specialty centers like Sylvester, where you can get those advances in therapies and also dedicated inpatient units to treat people with these very rare cancer diagnoses,” says Dr. Sekeres.

FOCUSING ON YOU

Focusing on You: Innovations in Modern Medicine is a series of healthcare-related stories airing regularly on WPLG Local 10. For more stories like this one, visit YouTube channels for UHealth, the University of Miami Health System.

Above content provided by UHealth, the University of Miami Health System


Recommended Videos