Wilmot Cancer Institute

10/22/2026

We're working together with community members today to lessen the impact of cancer tomorrow. 🤝

Our Community Cancer Action Council (CCAC) Retreat served as a special time to celebrate accomplishments, learn about challenges, and start making plans for prevention and community work moving forward!

During the event, we recognized a few award winners:
🏆 Sue Dambrowski and Ilumniada Vilca received the Edgar Santa Cruz Aspire Award
🏆 Fidelis Care and Cancer Support Community at Gilda's Club Rochester received the Community Vision Award
🏆 Anna Weiss, MD, and Nicole O'Dell, PhD, received the COE Innovator Award

The event also included a poster session. Congrats to Alexis Friedenberg for winning the Judges Selection poster award and Dean Seneca for winning the Fan Favorite poster award.

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped make this event possible. Interested in getting involved with our CCAC? Learn more: https://urmed.info/4sfT7fD or email [email protected].

10/22/2026

Honored that our Pluta Comprehensive Breast Care Program received recognition at a recent Rochester City Council ceremony during Breast Cancer Awareness Month! 🎗️

Dr. Alissa Huston, Dr. Anna Weiss, and Dawn Stever with the Pluta Cancer Foundation were recognized before the City Council meeting earlier this week, along with other local breast cancer groups. We feel honored to help those impacted by breast cancer in our city, and beyond!

10/21/2026

Bernell Jones made up her mind on the spot.

She and her brother had smoked their whole lives, but as she visited him while he recovered from a stroke, she decided it was time to make a change. She wanted to quit smoking.

Her physician referred her to Wilmot Cancer Institute's To***co Cessation Program, which recently hit a milestone: The program has helped more than 1,000 people who have wanted to quit smoking.

Bernell joined their ranks. It hasn't been an easy journey. A couple of setbacks have occurred along the way, but she regained strength with prayer and support from a church friend who helped her stay accountable.

Now, she's officially been able to quit. It's not only benefited her piggy bank, but she also feels better, sleeps better, and smells better, she says.

Read her story: https://urmed.info/4ywNsmS

10/20/2026

Proud to be part of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event again this year! 🎗️

This event supports breast cancer survivors and thrivers, while also funding life-saving research and support for patients and families.

Some members from our Pluta Comprehensive Breast Care Program joined the event to walk, chat with participants, and, of course, stop for a photo opp on the big pink chair! 📸

10/16/2026

10/15/2026

Three innovative surgical procedures are helping those with advanced cancer in Rochester.

Histotripsy: This noninvasive procedure uses high-intensity waves to remove cancerous liver tissue without incisions.

HAI pump: This procedure involves surgically implanting a pump into the abdomen that infuses chemotherapy directly into the liver.

HIPEC: This procedure involves removing all visible tumors in the abdomen and then pumping high doses of heated chemotherapy into the abdominal cavity to remove any residual cancer.

We recently highlighted these services in our 2026 Impact Report. Read the full story:

Three innovative surgical procedures, histotripsy, hepatic artery infusion (HAI) pumps, and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), are helping patients with advanced cancer survive and thrive.

10/14/2026

Two awards at the Cancer Support Community at Gilda's Club Rochester Heroes Ball tie back to survivorship care at Wilmot.

Congratulations to Dr. John Mariano and Richard DiMarzo! 🎉

Dr. Mariano received the 2026 Hero Award, which is given for meritorious, outstanding or heroic distinctive personal involvement in the cancer arena by a local individual.

At Wilmot, Dr. Mariano cares for cancer patients of all ages, but he specializes in caring for teens and young adults with cancer. He focuses on late effects of cancer treatment and survivorship, and he's part of the Judy DiMarzo Cancer Survivorship Program at Wilmot.

Richard received the 2026 Christie Simonetti Award, which is given to individual(s) in recognition of their
inspiring, caring, and concerned spirit shown to others.

Richard's gift in honor of his late wife, Judy, helped spark the Judy DiMarzo Cancer Survivorship Program at Wilmot. It led to the first Warrior Walk in 2013, which evolved into the Wilmot Warrior Weekend we have today. This event funds cancer research and survivorship care at Wilmot.

Please join us in congratulating and thanking both Dr. Mariano and Richard for all they have done and continue to do to support cancer survivors in the Rochester region!

10/13/2026

October 13 marks Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

For 20-30% of those diagnosed with earlier-stage breast cancer, the disease will spread, or metastasize, to other parts of the body, making it more challenging to treat.

However, there's growing hope. Thanks to new treatments—5+ new treatments have been approved for metastatic breast cancer this year alone—more patients are living longer after a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. Our team is committed to expanding these possibilities even further through clinical trials.

Wilmot currently has four clinical trials specifically for patients with metastatic breast cancer, investigating innovative options like targeted therapies and antibody-drug conjugates. Learn more about these trials:
https://urmed.info/4hHy7eh

10/12/2026

A cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. Complex treatment plans, major changes to daily life, and uncertainty about the future can leave patients feeling a loss of control.

But integrative oncology can play a critical role.

We're proud to offer our patients access to the Pluta Integrative Oncology & Wellness Center at no charge, thanks to the Pluta Cancer Foundation. The center helps patients manage many side effects of cancer and treatment through options like yoga, exercise, nutrition, and more.

It's now also helping educate medical students on their path to becoming doctors. Our own Dr. Alissa Huston shared insights in a recent article for Rochester Medicine magazine.

A cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. But a model of care that integrates evidence-based wellness strategies into each patient's personalized care plan can play a crucial role. Research is backing it up.

10/10/2026

Our latest issue of Dialogue magazine is out now! 📰

This issue features our first-ever Impact Report, summarizing accomplishments from the time of our National Cancer Institute designation through the first half of the year.

It highlights a heroic clinical trials story, research collaborations, innovations in surgery and patient care, and more.

Read it online: https://urmed.info/4yG0v6F