For 52-year-old Las Vegas resident LeeAnn Hunt, her diagnosis of oral cancer brought out so many powerful emotions. Adding to that, was anxiety about the considerable expense associated with traveling to Utah or California for treatment. Thankfully, she was relieved to discover that Dr. Suparna Shah, an assistant professor in the department otolaryngology - head and neck surgery at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, could perform the necessary 10-hour surgery in Las Vegas at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMC).
“The oral cancer had extended into the jaw bone,” Shah explains. “The plan was to resect the affected portion of the jaw, followed by microvascular reconstruction of the jaw using a section of LeeAnn’s fibula bone from her left leg — designing it to fit and be almost seamless.” The operation, which typically requires a full day, began at 7:30 a.m. and concluded after 10 p.m. “It takes so much time because it involves several critical stages,” Shah notes. “Securing the breathing tube, performing a tracheostomy, excising the cancer, and then reconstructing the jawbone with the bone graft from the patient’s leg. Early morning until ten or eleven at night is pretty typical for this procedure.”
Says Hunt, “She kept me alive in the operating room for all that time. I’d walk to the end of the earth for her.” Hunt is now cancer free and undergoing precautionary radiation and chemotherapy to make sure there’s no risk of recurrence. As a former caregiver herself, she expresses deep gratitude for Shah's approach. “She’s always been upfront with me about the risks. She’s one of the special ones.”
Shah, who arrived in Las Vegas three and a half years ago, says the gratitude she receives from patients like Hunt is what sustains her through some of the most demanding cases in medicine. However, the time she has to reflect upon Hunt's journey is short. Shah and her colleagues in ENT must quickly turn their attention to the next case.
“I perform one of these surgeries every week,” she says. “At the moment, we are the only team in the state performing oral cavity cancer surgeries with reconstruction, as well as throat cancer surgeries with reconstruction. My surgical schedule is booked for the next four months.”
Shah understands the responsibility that comes with serving a community that needs additional physicians in almost every medical specialty. “Head and neck cancer is especially challenging because it affects abilities most people take for granted — the ability to swallow, breathe, and speak,” she explains. “Our goal with reconstruction is to restore as much quality of life as possible.”
The department is working to hire additional ENT surgeons while also training seven to eight residents each year, with the hope that many will remain in Southern Nevada to practice. While the physician shortage affects everyone, it can be especially frustrating for cancer patients, and Shah can sense their anxiety. “Las Vegas still has many independent practitioners and separate hospital systems that are not always well connected,” she says. “Too often, healthcare operates in silos. I would love to see UNLV continue to grow and eventually have its own hospital. With that kind of infrastructure comes greater funding, expanded programs, and the ability to recruit more specialists.”
Having trained at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center — one of the world’s premier cancer centers — Shah has seen firsthand what the best cancer care looks like. “Patients can come in from out of town and see every specialist they need in a single day because patient coordinators organize the entire schedule for them,” she says. “That level of coordination is incredibly important because in cancer care, time matters. The sooner treatment begins, the better the outcomes are likely to be.”
Looking ahead, Shah hopes continued growth in Southern Nevada’s medical community will bring not only more physicians and residency programs, but also a more integrated model of care. “Right now, we have a nurse navigator in ENT who works to coordinate appointments for our patients,” she says. “But it’s challenging because she often has to work across so many different institutions. As we continue to grow, if we can better connect these systems and eliminate the silos, care would become far more efficient — ultimately leading to better outcomes for our patients, as well as saving lives.”
To make an appointment with Dr. Shah, please contact the UNLV Health ENT Clinic at 702-671-6480 or visit the UNLV Health website.
