Michigan woman first in U.S. to receive promising new cancer treatment

In some ways, Tiffiney Beard‘s cancer journey was like the countless stories she’d seen depicted on TV and in the news.

Her initial diagnosis was scary, her thoughts grim. How would this affect her quality of life or ability to work, and for how long?

But thanks to a never-been-done-before treatment, the 46-year-old Redford woman’s battle wound up looking different than most.

Beard was the nation’s first recipient of step-and-shoot proton radiation treatment, undergoing three months of therapy with minimal side effects or disruptions to her routine. As of late April, she was nine months cancer free.

“It feels like I skated through this thing,” Beard said. “I recognize how blessed I am not to have had to deal with what so many people have to deal with.

“To learn you’re cancer free, I’m just living the dream.”

Step-and-shoot proton arc therapy is a new radiation option that allows physicians to better target tumors, explained Dr. Rohan Deraniyagala, a radiation oncologist at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak.

The new treatment option can take up to 2.5 times more time than general proton radiation, but with the advantage of potentially fewer side effects and less radiation toxicity to surrounding tissue and organs.

“There’s been a focus on cancer patients living their normal lives and a lot of times a measurement we don’t report on for treatments is the ability for that treatment to continue work,” Deraniyagala said. “In this economy, that’s very important.”

Such was the case for Beard.

She first sought medical attention in 2022 for a nodule forming under the left side of her jaw. She met with a specialist, who didn’t find anything of concern. With no pain, she chose not to have it removed.

Fast forward to 2024, the nodule was causing enough discomfort to warrant removal. Further testing discovered cancer in her salivary gland, known as adenoid cystic carcinoma.

The rare form of cancer is known for being highly invasive and difficult to treat because of its tendency to affect nerves leading up to the brain. After the gumball-sized tumor was removed, she needed treatment to radiate the nerves in the surrounding tissue where the tumor was sitting.

Because the radiation would be on a stable, post-operative bed rather than a dynamic tumor, Beard was identified as a good candidate for the novel treatment. The potential for fewer side effects enticed her and she agreed to proceed.

Treatment took about 30 minutes per day, five days a week, for about three months, concluding in August 2024. Her care team worked around her schedule, keeping her from missing a single day of work or family time.

“For Tiffiney, that was an untold story of a lot of studies in that how will this treatment impact their daily life and maintaining a job,” the doctor said. “This is a way to treat cancer patients without removing them from their life.”

Beard only experienced minimal fatigue and slight skin discoloration from the target point. She didn’t have any memory or concentration loss that can occur with radiation around the brain, and tests thus far reveal no signs of cancer returning.

Beard’s case study was presented in late April at the International Symposium on Proton Therapy in Philadelphia. It was also published in the International Journal of Particle Therapy.

With the treatment going “exceptionally well,” the care team at Corewell’s Proton Therapy Center plans to open it up to more patients, including those with breast, lung and prostate cancer.

“Proton beam therapies continue to evolve rapidly and while in this case, step-and-shoot proton arc therapy has proven to be highly effective so far for Tiffiney, it is just the latest step toward even better treatments down the road,” Deraniyagala said.

“The fact that Tiffiney hardly experienced any side effects is a great outcome for this type of therapy and a good sign of even better things to come.”

While the step-and-shoot treatment is new, Deraniyagala called it the intermediate option between general proton therapy and a future continuous beam treatment, which would ideally provide the same benefits as step-and-shoot but at a faster rate.

That further advancement, known as DynamicARC, is on the horizon at Corewell Health’s Proton Therapy Center. Researchers expect to receive Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 2026.

As for Beard, the initial thoughts of her diagnosis as a death sentence have passed, but the re-prioritization of her time remains.

She no longer takes her work home from the office most days. She’s made travel more of a priority and rarely turns down an opportunity to see her 5-year-old niece, Harmony. The two are on a quest to visit as many beaches and libraries as they can.

“I’m a very involved aunt,” she said. “That’s my focal point, to know what’s truly important: teaching her things, showing her things, and being with her as much as I can.

“Anywhere she is, I want to be.”