UW Health raises awareness for seeking second opinions | News

MADISON, Wis. (WXOW) — After being diagnosed with stage-four cancer and seeking a life-changing second opinion, both the patient and oncologist are advocating for reaching out for medical second opinions. 

39-year-old Sarah Smith was diagnosed with stage-four metastatic breast cancer in 2017 and started preparing for the worst. 

She said it was her husband and sister that pushed her to seek a second opinion at UW Health Carbone Cancer Center. She would spend the next five years trying various treatments and a clinical trial.

The trial is led by her medical oncologist and the chief of the hematology, oncology and palliative care division at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW Health), Dr. Kari Wisinski.

“In the time between the first and second opinions, I had some time to kind of accept what was going on,” Smith said. “It wasn’t that initial shock right away. There was some time – but to come here – the way that Dr. Wisinski described the cancer to us just made more sense – we had a great connection with her.”

According to UW Health, someone with this type of cancer and a gene mutation like Smith has a survival rate at 29% at the five-year mark post diagnosis. 

Smith and her family celebrated that milestone in May 2022 and she said it was the second opinion that gave her a second chance. 

Both Smith and Dr. Wisinski are advocating for everyone to reach out for a second opinion if they can while not dismissing clinical trials for treatment. 

“For that individual patient, it gives them options that might not be part of their standard treatment options that we can just generally prescribe in the clinic,” Dr. Wisinski said. “Second, it can it can help for future patients who are affected by cancer.”

She explained that doctors can learn from the first opinion and in the case of clinical trials – they also learn and create from what doesn’t work. 

Visit the website to learn more about the UW Health Carbone Cancer Center. 

Have a story idea? Let us know here