Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Dr. Cecil Benitez, Radiation Oncologist with City of Hope. Thank you so much for being with us today, Dr. Benitez.
Dr. Cecil Benitez
Thank you so much for having me.
Yvette Walker
Have you always been in the field of cancer treatment?
Dr. Cecil Benitez
No, I actually started my journey wanting to be a scientist, and I wanted to cure diabetes. So I actually did a PhD in developmental biology at Stanford prior to applying to medical school. As much as I loved science and the creativity that goes behind it, I felt like that interpersonal relationship was really missing, and so I started volunteering at a free clinic where I was a Spanish interpreter, and there I met the loveliest patients, and I felt like they were so grateful. And at the end of the day, I just felt really happy, and I felt like, okay, I think this is a better fit for me more long term.
Yvette Walker
Can you share a story of a patient that you felt you were able to intimately and truly support?
Dr. Cecil Benitez
Yeah, a lot of my patients are going through a very hard time, right? They're getting diagnosed with cancer, and so a lot of my patients, especially like my Spanish speaking patients, which majority of my patients tend to be, they're always so grateful that I speak the language and that I'm able to really walk them through, like all of their treatment options, what to expect with radiation. When they tell me that, you know, I'm the first doctor that they've seen that spoken to them in their language, and that they feel like they actually understand what's going on with the care, that brings immense satisfaction.
Yvette Walker
You cover a multitude of cancers, but you mostly see breast and cervical cancer. Can you share a bit about some symptoms we should look out for in breast and cervical cancer?
Dr. Cecil Benitez
For breast cancer, things to pay attention to are any new masses, any new lumps or bumps that you notice in your breast. If it's painful, sometimes you can get some pain in the breast without actually noticing a mass. Any nipple changes, any kind of like tethering or like skin changes that you're noticing, like dimpling. Sometimes you can also get discharge from the breast. So like, any kind of bleeding or like those are things that can often be an early sign of breast cancer. Cervical cancer, sometimes you can get more bleeding or pain as well. So for bleeding, if you're still getting your periods, sometimes you may notice bleeding between periods. If you're postmenopausal, so all your periods have stopped, if you get any kind of bleeding that's always a sign to get it checked out by your doctor, there might be something within the cervix or within the endometrial and so it's something that a doctor needs to assess you for.
Yvette Walker
What are preventative efforts that can be taken to identify these cancers in women?
Dr. Cecil Benitez
So for breast cancer, specifically, mammogram is going to be key, right? So usually we start screening around the age 40. If you do have a family member that was diagnosed with breast cancer and they were younger, then that's also a reason to, you know, reach out to your primary care doctor, because then you might need screening earlier than age 40. Obviously, if you notice any masses or the symptoms that I discussed, then you don't need to wait for that screening mammogram, just go straight to your physician. For cervical cancer, there's a vaccine that is against HPV, which is a virus. And then there's also the pap smears that are done at your either your primary care's office or your gynecologist office.
Yvette Walker
Do you have tips for those that are navigating a cancer journey through the healthcare system?
Dr. Cecil Benitez
I feel like a lot of the things that I see that just break my heart have a lot to do with, you know, advocating for yourself. The hardest stories are when I see people that have very advanced cancer, and they'll tell me that, you know, they had some biopsy three years ago that they thought was negative, because no one reached out to them. No one told them that there was cancer there. So they basically just assumed that, because they never heard back from the physician or the physician's office, that they were fine, which is not necessarily the case, right? So keep making sure that you're getting the pathology results or the report. Those reports are not necessarily written for the patient. They're written for the physician. So if you don't understand what that report is, the physician should be going through that report with you and explaining it to you.
Yvette Walker
What is the best way to connect and ask you any questions?
Dr. Cecil Benitez
The main person will be your primary care doctor or gynecologist. If you have any questions related to cancer specifically, I practice in the Upland area as part of City of Hope. You're always welcome to reach out and schedule an appointment if you want as well.
Yvette Walker
Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and all of these preventative measures we can take to hopefully get early treatment for the onset of breast cancer or cervical cancer.
Dr. Cecil Benitez
Yeah, definitely. Thank you for having me.
Yvette Walker
My guest today has been Dr. Cecil Benitez, Radiation Oncologist with City of Hope. Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/ielatinovoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from San Antonio Regional Hospital, here for life. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
