Walsh doing ‘fine’ Lung surgery ‘a success’

Shawn Walsh, the University of Maine men’s hockey coach who is suffering from a form of kidney cancer called renal cell carcinoma, was resting comfortably Thursday night after having his cancer-filled left lung and several other cancerous tumors removed at the National Cancer Institute in the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

Orrington’s John Vickery, Walsh’s father-in-law, said his daughter Lynne called and said, “The operation was a complete success and Shawn was doing fine. The surgery took a little longer than anticipated.”

He said the procedure took most of the day.

In addition to his wife, Walsh was also accompanied by his sister, Patty, and brother Kevin.

Kevin, who attended the University of Maine, will be the donor for his brother’s stem cell transplantation which will take place after his recovery from Thursday’s surgery.

Shawn Walsh’s recovery is expected to take three to four weeks although he could return home as soon as next week.

The stem cell transplantation, which will also be conducted at the National Cancer Institute, involves introducing cells from a sibling whose immune system most resembles the patient’s and having those cells develop into blood cells which attack and destroy the remaining cancerous tumors.

Dr. Richard Childs and Dr. David Schump are overseeing Walsh’s treatment and surgical procedures.

Prior to the stem cell transplantation, Walsh will be given two immunosuppressive drugs to shut down his immune system and allow his brother’s immune cells to take hold.

After his brother’s cells are infused, the Maine coach will be given the drug cyclosporine to prevent rejection of the donor cells and keep them from attacking his normal tissues.

Childs was the lead author of a September paper that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, and chronicled stem cell transplantation in 19 patients. Ten of those 19 showed tumor regression. Three had total regression of all metastases and seven showed partial regression.

The stem cell transplantation was administered between Feb. 1998 and Aug. 1999.

Childs, M.D. of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s hematology branch, wrote “Considering that there are no current treatments that benefit patients who have not responded to conventional therapy, we are very encouraged by the early high response rate in our first group of patients treated, with a few patients remaining completely free of cancer more than two years from the initiation of therapy.”

Walsh, who was diagnosed in June and had his left kidney removed on July 7, underwent two 20-day immunotherapy treatments at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles but the treatments failed to destroy the tumors. They have since shown some minimal growth.

Vickery said his daughter told him the doctors and staff are “totally committed” to helping his son-in-law beat the disease and have several other options available if necessary.

The 45-year-old Walsh has been the head coach at Maine for 17 years and has led his teams to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, seven Frozen Fours and two national championships (1993, ’99). His 399-214-44 record ranks him 11th among active coaches in victories and 19th all-time.

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