Dr. Silberstein was a young oncologist in 1984 when his father was diagnosed with colon cancer. He died several years later, leaving Dr. Silberstein frustrated that treatments were not able to save his life. Since that time, four new colon cancer drugs have been approved to treat his type of cancer. Dr. Silberstein has enrolled patients on the clinical trials studying these drugs, and has seen patients’ prognoses steadily improve.

It’s a bittersweet feeling for Dr. Silberstein, who was finishing up his oncology fellowship when his father was first diagnosed. “If my father had been given the opportunity to be treated with today’s new drugs, he might possibly still be alive now,” Dr. Silberstein says. “It fills me with joy to see patients today who are alive and flourishing because of these new breakthroughs, and I think with sadness about my father’s tragic death.”

The loss of his father has propelled Dr. Silberstein to be a vigorous advocate for cancer research in the form of clinical trials. “It helped motivate me to use new drugs and clinical trials, hoping to find breakthroughs that will help other patients so they will not meet the fate of my father,” he says.

He proudly tells the stories of two of his patients, one with leukemia and another with kidney cancer that were cured with therapies only available through clinical trials. “Because of the advances made through clinical research, I’ve seen many patients cured of diseases that previously had been uniformly fatal,” he says. “Unfortunately I’ve witnessed too many people dying from cancers that might be cured were there greater participation in clinical trials leading to quicker advancements and eventual cures.”

As someone who works with cancer patients every day, Dr. Silberstein is passionate about enrolling them in clinical trials. “I have seen the tragedy of cancer through my father’s death,” he says. “What gives me hope is that I am able to witness the almost miraculous progress of clinical trials day in and day out.”