Dr. Walsh is a pediatrician, geneticist, and hematologist-oncologist. He treats children with cancer and takes care of families with a predisposition to cancer.
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DR. MICHAEL WALSH
Hey, Addie. How are you?
I hope families, when they come to our clinic, feel reassured when they leave — and that they’re not in the situation alone.
I’m Michael Walsh. I am a pediatric oncologist and medical geneticist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
I became interested in medicine as a result of my mother being diagnosed with cancer early, and I wondered why people get cancer to start with.
That other gene that we’ll test you for …
The main clinic that I staff and run is a pediatric cancer predisposition clinic.
“Cancer predisposition” is an increased likelihood of developing a cancer, or a number of cancers, based on someone’s genetics or family history.
Parents’ biggest concerns when they come to us are: “When — and will — my child get cancer?” We try not to bury our head in the sand and screen for cancers early — and use that as information in a way where we’re ahead of the game.
It’s all looking perfect.
I partake in a multidisciplinary team as well that thinks about therapies for patients.
The treatments that have shown promise are immunotherapy and drugs that play a role with how DNA repairs itself. Predisposed patients can also be a target for therapies. They provide a means to try to understand their disease in a more meaningful way.
Nice deep breath.
MSK’s values are clearly seen every day. People will be delivered care that can only really happen in a place like this.