Texas Oncology–Mesquite recently welcomed Naveed R. Cheema, D.O., to the team. We sat down with Dr. Cheema to learn more about his medical career and compassion as a physician.
Did you always know you wanted to be a doctor?
Interestingly, medicine isn’t my first career. I previously worked as an engineer, researching and designing medical devices for eight years. When I was 30, I decided to go to medical school. The decision had its challenges – I had a one-year-old at home when I started – but I’m proud of my medical journey. Ten years, three children, and five cities later, I appreciate every day as an oncologist.
Patients come to you at vulnerable points in their lives, and at times they’ll need you to be more than their oncologist and trust you as an advisor, confidant, and supporter.”
What do you like most about oncology?
Oncology is a discipline that demands the best from you as a physician. To provide compassionate cancer care, you may be required to adopt many roles. Patients come to you at vulnerable points in their lives, and at times they’ll need you to be more than their oncologist and trust you as an advisor, confidant, and supporter. I hope to fulfill all these roles honorably.
Additionally, it’s exciting to be at the forefront of cancer research advancements that are changing medicine as we know it. Cancer treatments are improving through better understanding of genetic mechanisms and new approaches to target the disease.
In your opinion, what is the single most important breakthrough in cancer research to date and how have you seen it change the course of treatment?
The discovery of immune checkpoint antigens and their interaction with cancer cells has revolutionized cancer care. By triggering a patient’s own immune system against cancer, immunotherapy has advanced the treatment landscape for cancer patients.