Doctor's note: November 2026 reminders from Evergreen Health. November 2, 2026 Evergreen Health is closed for Thanksgiving Day. All Evergreen Health locations and Community Access Services will be closed on Thursday, November 26, in observance of Thanksgiving Day. Evergreen Health will reopen for normal business hours on Friday, November 27. If you have a medical emergency during this time, please call 911. If you have a mental health or substance-use related emergency during this time, please call 988. Join Evergreen Health for a fall prevention seminar. Come join THRIVE Wellness for an interactive workshop where you'll learn home safety and exercises to prevent falls, as well as how to get up if you fall. Evergreen Commons (67 Prospect Ave.) Thursday, Nov. 5 at 10am The seminar is open to all patients. To RSVP or for questions, please give Evergreen Health a call at 716.847.2441 (press option 5) or email [email protected]. October is american diabetes month. Diabetes affects millions of Americans, but with the right care, it can be managed and even prevented. Going to your annual check-up visit is the best way to catch problems early and keep you healthier longer. If you have diabetes or are at risk, talk with your care team about steps you can take, including healthy eating, staying active, and taking medications as prescribed. Every small change adds up, and Evergreen Health is here to help you every step of the way. Give Evergreen Health a call at 716.847.2441 (press option 5) or message your provider through the Patient Portal to learn more. November is Lung Cancer awareness month. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths, but finding it early through screening can save lives. A safe, simple, low-dose CT (LDCT) scan can detect lung cancer before symptoms appear. * are 50-80 years old * have a history of 20 pack-years of smoking (for example, 1 pack a day for 20 years) * currently smoke or quit within the past 15 years Then lung cancer screening might be right for you. Give Evergreen Health a call at 716.47.2441 (press option 5) to learn more: Evergreen Health partner with Roswell Park to provide you with a Lung Cancer Screening Navigator to guide you through every step of the process. Welcome to its new Healthy Care Specialist, Sumaia Akther! Evergreen Health is excited to welcome Sumaia Akther, its new Healthy Care Specialist! Sumaia is already making a positive impact by building strong relationships with its pediatric patients ages 5 and under, as well as their families. is dedicated to supporting its pediatric patients ages 5 and under and their families. Sumaia can support your child's health, development, and overall well-being and help your family with: * sleep concerns * feeding challenges * behavioral support * potty training * child development * connections to community resources and social services Sumaia is a wonderful resource for its patients, families, and care teams, and Evergreen Health is thrilled to have her. Please join Evergreen Health in giving Sumaia a warm welcome to the Evergreen team! November 20th is Transgender Day of Remembrance. Each November 20th, Evergreen Health observe Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) to honor the memory of all of the transgender, nonbinary and gender non-conforming people whose lives have been taken in acts of violence. Visit glaad.org/tdor/ to learn how you can support the transgender community on this day. Nov. 8-14 is national Nurse practitioner week. Join Evergreen Health in celebrating its Nurse Practitioners for all they do to support its patients and build a healthier community through unconditional care. Thanks, Nurse Practitioners! Make sure your contact info is up-to-date in Medicaid so you don't miss important updates. Starting on January 1, 2027, a new federal rule will require some people who have Medicaid coverage to show they are working, going to school, volunteering in the community, or participating in job training to keep their health coverage. What does this mean for you? If work requirements for Medicaid coverage apply to you, the New York State Department of Health marketplace will send you a notice by mail (or email if you chose electronic notices) about upcoming changes by Sept. 1, 2026. If you're enrolled in Medicaid through the marketplace, you need to make sure your contact information is up to date for the account, including phone number, email, and home address so you can receive important information from the state. If you are enrolled in Medicaid through the marketplace, you can update your contact information in these ways: Go to your New York State of Health account at nystateofhealth.ny.gov. Meet with an enrollment assistor who can help you update your account. Call the New York State of Health Customer Service Center at 1-855-355-5777 (TTY: 1-800-662-1220). Need more information? Evergreen's Financial Counseling Center is available from 8am to 5pm Monday-Friday, and Tuesday until 7pm. Contact Evergreen Health at 716.847.2441 (press option 7), or walk into its 206 South Elmwood Avenue location. Visit https://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/stay-covered to find more information about upcoming changes and who will be affected.

Combining 2 vegf-blocking targeted therapies significantly boosted survival in kidney cancer study. Wednesday, October 28, 2026 - 08:00 am Clinical trial assessing bevacizumab-pazopanib combination focused on patients with untreated metastatic disease Highlights * Landmark study extended both progression-free and overall survival * Regimen found to be safe and effective, especially in favorable-risk patients * Results published today in The Lancet Oncology BUFFALO, N.Y. - Results of a phase 1/2 trial led by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center show that combining the targeted therapies bevacizumab (Avastin) and pazopanib (Votrient) significantly extends both progression-free and overall survival in patients with the most common type of kidney cancer. Saby George, MD, FACP, Professor of Oncology in the Department of Medicine, is principal investigator of the trial and first author of the study, newly published in The Lancet Oncology. The strongest benefit was seen in favorable-risk patients, who made up the majority of the 51 patients enrolled in the nationwide clinical trial, NCT01684397, conducted at five academic cancer centers. "This novel regimen of pazopanib alternating with bevacizumab was found to be safe and efficacious in untreated patients with advanced clear cell kidney cancer," says Dr. George. "The regimen was also reasonably well-tolerated by patients, and delayed development of treatment resistance leading to prolonged progression-free survival." When pazopanib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), is given alone as the firstline treatment for patients with previously untreated metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mccRCC), median progression-free survival is just 9.2 months, and overall survival ranges from 28.4 to 29.3 months. After treatment with both bevacizumab and pazopanib, 51 patients in the phase 2 portion of the clinical trial had a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 24.8 months and median overall survival (OS) of 63.2 months after a median follow-up of 63.7 months. But 33 of the 51 patients - categorized as at "favorable risk" according to the guidelines ofthe International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium (IMDC) - fared even better, with a PFS of 28.5 months and OS of 76.9 months. This improvement is noteworthy because while patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma are typically treated with immunotherapy/TKI combination therapies, which can improve both progression-free and overall survival, these combinations fail to show significant improvement in overall survival in favorable-risk patients. "The benefit from this novel regimen of pazopanib and bevacizumab was comparable to or better than that of the contemporary immunotherapy combinations in the favorable-risk patients," notes Dr. George. "This is significant due to the lower cost of this regimen compared to the immunotherapy combinations." The researchers believe this is the first clinical trial in kidney cancer to demonstrate both safety and efficacy using a combination of two drugs that both block vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a protein that promotes the growth of new blood vessels that can "feed" the tumor with oxygen and nutrients. When multi-targeted TKIs like pazopanib are used alone, drug resistance increases with every treatment cycle, due partly to rising VEGF ligand levels. But bevacizumab, a targeted monoclonal antibody, binds to VEGF and actually removes it from circulation. Phase 1 of the two-part clinical trial determined the optimal doses for both drugs - 800 mg of pazopanib daily on days 1-28, plus 10 mg/kg of bevacizumab on days 36 and 50 of a 10-week cycle. Phase 2 enrolled 51 treatment-naïve patients who received the recommended phase 2 dose established in the phase 1 portion. High blood pressure and elevated liver enzymes were the most common serious side effects. Dr. George and his colleagues note that this novel combination may also benefit patients who are unable to receive immunotherapy agents, patients whose disease progresses with adjuvant pembrolizumab, and patients in resource-limited countries. Rahul Parikh, MD, PhD, of the University of Kansas is senior author of the study. Sponsored by Roswell Park in collaboration with Novartis, the investigator-initiated clinical trial enrolled patients at Roswell Park, the University of Kansas Cancer Center, Karmanos Cancer Center in Michigan, the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Center and the Medical College of Wisconsin. The research team represented those institutions as well as the Jacobs School of Medicine at the University at Buffalo. Funding for the study was provided by Roswell Park, by the National Cancer Institute through P30CA016056, the NCI's Cancer Center Support Grant to Roswell Park, and Novartis. From the world's first chemotherapy research to the PSA prostate cancer biomarker, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center generates innovations that shape how cancer is detected, treated and prevented worldwide. The Roswell Park team of 4,000+ makes compassionate, patient-centered cancer care and services accessible across New York State and beyond. Rated "Exceptional" by the National Cancer Institute, Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the country and remains the only one in Upstate New York. To learn more about Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Roswell Park Care Network, visit www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email [email protected]. Media Contact