While Dolores Brivio is grateful to be spending the winter in the Virgin Islands, the 76-year-old from East Hampton is even more grateful to be cancer-free, thanks to her care team at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.

Just three weeks after her diagnosis of colorectal cancer in November, Brivio was cancer-free after an operation in December. During Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, her story is a reminder of the importance of regular colorectal cancer screenings to catch and treat cancer early.

On November 15, Steve Georgopoulos, MD, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Long Island School of Medicine and gastroenterologist at NYU Langone Medical Associates—Riverhead and NYU Langone Medical Associates—Bridgehampton, held Brivio’s hand in the recovery room while he explained he thought he found a malignancy during the colonoscopy.

“My husband and I were in shock because I was asymptomatic and I didn’t have a family history of cancer. Our world just stopped,” she said.

After receiving confirmation of a colorectal cancer diagnosis the following week, Brivio scheduled her surgery with Megan D. Winner, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at NYU Long Island School of Medicine and director of robotic surgical oncology at Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island.

By December 5, she was declared cancer-free. When she met with Francis Arena, MD, a clinical professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and medical oncologist at Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Arena Oncology—Riverhead, after the procedure, she was especially happy to learn she didn’t need to receive chemotherapy as a result of the early diagnosis and rapid treatment.

“Dolores’s story highlights how quickly patients can regain their health after a cancer diagnosis thanks to lifesaving cancer screening,” said Dr. Georgopoulos.

NYU Langone continues to expand its breadth and depth of services on Long Island and throughout the region, bringing its high-quality care directly to patients where they live and work.

Media Inquiries

Deborah “DJ” Haffeman
Phone: 646-284-5630
deborah.haffeman@nyulangone.org