A Journey of Hope: How Teamwork Between Stephenson Cancer Center, Hillcrest in Tulsa Saved One Patient's Life - Twice

Tulsa resident Elizabeth Busten received a breast cancer diagnosis on her 35th birthday in 2004, a challenge that she said came completely by surprise. As with many who are diagnosed with breast cancer, she had no family history or indicators that she would have to face breast cancer so young.

After successfully overcoming breast cancer with chemotherapy and radiation, Elizabeth thought her cancer journey was behind her. After treatment in Oklahoma City, she moved back to her hometown of Tulsa in 2012 and began working at Hillcrest Medical Center in 2014 as a weight management professional.

But Elizabeth was about to face another surprise fork in the road. Healthcare providers at OU Stephenson Cancer Center at Hillcrest in Tulsa and OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center in Oklahoma City would be by her side to overcome not one, but two different types of leukemia in the years since her breast cancer diagnosis.

"I had to obviously establish myself with an oncologist when I moved here just for yearly follow-ups because I was at the annual follow-up stage," she said. She chose OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center at Hillcrest hematologist oncologist Dr. Laura Kyle Brett M.D., as her physician. Dr. Brett is also a clinical assistant professor and director of Stephenson Cancer clinical trials in Tulsa.

In July 2016, Elizabeth’s world turned upside down again. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she simply felt “off.” Even her friends noticed her energy wasn’t the same. She went in for a routine checkup and received a startling diagnosis: therapy-induced acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The very chemotherapy that had saved her life from breast cancer had now caused a new form of cancer.

"I will never forget how composed and optimistic Liz was, even from the beginning of her diagnosis,” said Dr. Brett. “She has always handled everything that has been thrown at her with grace and even a smile. I can't help but think that her positive attitude has helped her in myriad ways along her cancer journey."

Faced with this dire diagnosis, Dr. Brett suggested treatment at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center in Oklahoma City. Elizabeth asked Dr. Brett what she would recommend.

"She said, 'Well, they have a really great cancer center at Stephenson Cancer Center, and if you were my sister, I would tell you to go there,'" Elizabeth said. "And I said, 'Well, that's all I need to know then.'"

A Team Effort Begins

That moment marked the beginning of a crucial partnership between Dr. Brett at Hillcrest and the team at Stephenson Cancer Center. Elizabeth was quickly transferred to Oklahoma City, where she began an intense month-long chemotherapy treatment under the care of Stephenson Cancer Center hematologist oncologist Dr. Adam Asch, M.D., professor of medicine and Nancy Johnson Records Chair in Oncology and Senior Deputy Director and Division Chief of the Section of Hematology-Oncology in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

"Dr. Asch said we would do chemotherapy and basically take my immune system to nothing,” she said. The goal was to eliminate all leukemia cells from her body.

Throughout her treatment, the collaboration between her care teams in Tulsa and Oklahoma City was seamless. Dr. Brett and Dr. Asch corresponded about her treatment regularly, and Elizabeth was having blood tests weekly at the infusion center at Hillcrest three times a week.

As Elizabeth’s treatment progressed, it became clear that her best chance for long-term survival was a bone marrow transplant. In January 2017, she received this life-saving procedure at Stephenson Cancer Center under the care of Dr. Jennifer Holter-Chakrabarty, M.D., professor of medicine and Presbyterian Health Foundation Presidential Professor in the Section of Hematology-Oncology and adjunct associate professor of radiation oncology at OU College of Medicine.

"Dr. Holter is amazing. We have a really great relationship," Elizabeth said.

The bone marrow transplant was successful, and Elizabeth was able to return to work at Hillcrest in 2019.

“She did extremely well, and she virtually sailed through,” Dr. Holter-Chakrabarty said. “I think most people would not even believe that she's been through a transplant. She is also a provider who works with individuals with cancer, and to be able to go back into that setting and continue to do that job is a testament to her.”

However, her journey was far from over. In a cruel twist of fate, Elizabeth was diagnosed with a second type of leukemia in October 2021 – this time, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

"It felt like the universe was saying ‘Let's just roll all the dice and let's give her a second kind of leukemia,’" Elizabeth said with a touch of gallows humor. "I was like, ‘This cannot be happening again.’"

Once again, the team at Stephenson Cancer Center, led by Dr. Holter-Chakrabarty, sprang into action. This time, they had a new weapon in their arsenal: CAR-T cell therapy.

CAR-T: The Future of Cancer Treatment

“In Elizabeth’s case, she had an Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, and then the second time around, she had an acute lymphoblastic leukemia. To have it present with ALL is exceedingly rare,” Dr. Holter-Chakrabarty said. “It also happened right in the middle of all the COVID craziness that we were going through.”

CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell) therapy is a groundbreaking form of immunotherapy that has shown remarkable results in treating certain types of blood cancers. It involves extracting a patient’s T-cells (a type of white blood cell), genetically modifying them in a lab to express receptors called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), and then reintroducing these modified cells back into the patient’s body. These CARs enable the T-cells to specifically target and destroy leukemia cells by recognizing unique proteins on their surface.

In her first transplant, Elizabeth had an infusion of bone marrow cells as well as white cells involved in creating an immunity called lymphocytes. Those new cells were key to the new CAR-T therapy.

“So when you go through that transplant, you basically reset your entire bone marrow,” Dr. Holter-Chakrabarty said. “She had her donor cells that were the part of her immune system that could help protect her when she got her second leukemia. We were able to collect some of those donor cells from her and then genetically change them so that they could target and see her ALL and kill it for us.”

This therapy has shown promising results, especially in cases where other treatments have failed, and Stephenson Cancer Center is the only facility in Oklahoma offering this sophisticated treatment.

"Dr. Holter told me about this new therapy that had just been FDA approved for two years. It's called CAR-T,'" Elizabeth said. "She told me they could take my T-cells and send them to be pumped up and genetically modified. Then they infuse them back to you, and they fight the ALL. I like to think I was becoming Iron Man. Give me those super cells!”

“She is absolutely Iron Man, 100%,” said Dr. Holter-Chakrabarty. “She even received a video message from Peyton Manning saying, ‘Go get ‘em!”

In addition to the new CAR-T treatments, Elizabeth had another superpower to rely on during her healing journey. The CAR-T treatment was successful in treating her leukemia, but throughout her treatments, she also maintained a positive attitude, which she believes played a crucial role in her recovery.

"One of the things that Elizabeth and I have done for many, many years is an ongoing joke, where she calls me the Queen and I call her the Queen,” Dr. Holter-Chakrabarty said. “She's the queen of transplant. I'm her queen in the sense that I've been there right by her side. But I want to say if there is a queen of transplant who has shown what it's like to do this with grace, it is Elizabeth. I want to say personally that it is my pleasure to take care of such a queen.”

A New Era of Collaboration

Elizabeth’s journey highlights the importance of collaboration between healthcare providers and the use of new technology and treatments. The recent announcement in 2024 of the collaboration between Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa and OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center promises to bring this level of coordinated care to more patients in eastern Oklahoma.

"It's just going to increase the level of care that they're going to receive here in the Tulsa area," Elizabeth said of the partnership. "At every opportunity, I've told people about Stephenson Cancer Center. You don't have to go to MD Anderson. You can get amazing care in the state, and now we're going to have that same care in the eastern part of the state available."

Dr. Holter-Chakrabarty echoed this sentiment.

“One of the things that we have figured out with cellular therapies is that there are a lot of people who have a hard time getting that care due to distance,” she said. “This partnership is going to allow us to offer a lot of things at Hillcrest that will allow patients to be closer to their home. We’ve already been able to transition to doing some therapies in Tulsa, which allows us to extend our ability to take care of patients throughout the state.”

Dr. Brett said she is also looking forward to the new therapies and treatments the partnership with Stephenson Cancer Center will bring to her patients in Tulsa and beyond.

“Our doctors at Hillcrest have collaborated closely with the team at Stephenson Cancer Center on countless patients over the years, and it is important for us to work as a team to manage complex oncology patients, because each of us offers something valuable to the treatment approach,” she said.

“The amazing doctors at Stephenson offer cutting-edge therapies that aren't necessarily available close to home. They also offer clinical trials that previously haven't been available in Tulsa.,” Dr. Brett added.

Looking to the Future

Today, Elizabeth continues to receive follow-up care from both Dr. Brett at Hillcrest and Dr. Holter at Stephenson Cancer Center. She's back at work at Hillcrest and looking forward to the future.

"I just cannot speak highly enough of the care I received," she said. "I'm so thankful for that. And I wouldn't have wanted it to play out any differently. It's been amazing."

For those facing a cancer diagnosis, Elizabeth’s journey offers hope and inspiration, showing that with advanced treatments, a positive attitude and a dedicated team of healthcare providers, even the most challenging diagnoses can be overcome.

“They saved my life twice,” she said. “It all boiled down to Dr. Brett telling me that if I were her sister, she would tell me to go to Stephenson Cancer Center. It was the best decision I made.”

Learn more about CAR-T therapy and advanced treatment options and clinical trials at Stephenson Cancer Center or speak with an expert by calling (918) 579-3850 in Tulsa or (405) 271-1112 in Oklahoma City.