A Survivor's Inspiring Story

Dianne Poe with six of her seven grandchildren.

Tonight I had the opportunity to meet Dianne Poe, a breast cancer survivor who was treated at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dianne was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, and ended up traveling from her hometown of Lanett, Alabama, to UAB for her treatment. Tonight, she shared her cancer journey at the Cancer Center’s annual Progress & Promise event.

As I listened to Diane tell her story, I was struck by what a courageous and inspiring person she is. Throughout her experience, she maintained a strong, positive attitude, which can be difficult to do when facing a disease such as cancer. And not only is Dianne a warm and gracious person, she’s also a perfect example of the translational research that we do here at the Cancer Center.

When Dianne came to the Cancer Center, she enrolled in a clinical trial that was born out of basic science research conducted right here in our laboratories. She was one of the first patients to enroll in this trial, and in just over a year, she was cancer-free. This is what we refer to as “translational research” – that process of taking scientific findings from the laboratory and translating them into therapies or treatments for patients in the clinic. Our ability to conduct groundbreaking and innovative translational research is one of the many things that sets the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center apart.

I’m so honored to have had the opportunity to meet and get to know Dianne tonight, and I thank her for sharing her story with me. She, along with all of our patients, is a reminder of what we at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center are working toward every day – a world where cancer is no longer a major public health problem.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.