Cancer

When Amy Rudder first noticed a lump in her right breast, she wasn’t concerned. At just 27, the Hoag ER nurse thought she was too young to have breast cancer. Her perspective shifted dramatically, however, after she met with Hoag OB-GYN Brooke Hargrove, M.D., who ordered an ultrasound.   “I made the mistake of looking over … Read More

In the summer of 2024, Janice Munemitsu, an Orange County native, found herself among a growing number of Asian women with a rare form of lung cancer.   “As someone who doesn’t smoke and has been healthy all my life, it was a shock,” she said.   What began as a sudden onset of a rare eye … Read More

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (March 28, 2025) – Genitourinary (GU) cancers are on the rise, but there are not enough specialists in the United States to treat these potentially fatal diseases, according to the first-ever study of the situation published this month in the journal Urology. Incidents of GU cancers – cancers of the prostate, bladder, … Read More

Rick Letterman’s passion for golf spans decades. Now 77, he’s been perfecting his swing since high school, when he worked as a caddy at a local country club in Kentucky.  “Golf is a very self-challenging game,” he said. “You align with your target in the distance, and you take your shot. When I received the … Read More

For 17 years, Roz Hodgins struggled with what many of us take for granted; the ability to comfortably swallow food. “I always had to be very cognizant of what I was eating and where, and there were foods I loved that I just couldn’t eat,” she said. “Going to a restaurant was difficult because I’d … Read More

Since the discovery of genetic mutations BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the 1990s, testing for the genes has become a common course of action among patients and families with a history of certain cancers.   According to the National Cancer Institute, the lifetime risk of breast cancer for a woman with a BRCA mutation is as high … Read More

Hoag helped save Jason Semko’s life, then gave it new direction. A former film student, Jason moved to Los Angeles from El Paso, Texas in 2007 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He realized he needed more stability to fulfill his dream of starting a family, taught himself how to code and reinvented … Read More

Shahin Shelechi, 72, is incredibly optimistic–so much so that it’s difficult to comprehend the magnitude of what she has endured throughout her 30-year cancer journey. “You have to have hope,” she said. “And whatever I can do to help even one person, I will do it.” First diagnosed with breast cancer in 1994, the disease … Read More

For Larry Arvin, a routine physical in 2013 ended with a unique and troubling diagnosis: He had breast cancer. “Initially, I was pretty shocked,” he said. “The fact that nobody really knows what’s going on with men’s breast cancer, that’s the challenge. The serious aspect is the effects of breast cancer when it metastasizes into … Read More

Newport Beach, Calif. – (October 29, 2024) – A world leader in breast conservation surgery, Hoag announced it is making a significant contribution to training the next generation of oncoplastic surgeons through the launch of a new Muzzy Family Endowed Fellowship in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery. This is the first fellowship of its kind in the … Read More