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Duke cancer patient Anna Gurney credits Duke radiologist Dr. Kevin Kalisz with saving her life.

Radiologists usually only know patients by their scans. But Gurney wanted to meet Dr. Kalisz in person.

Kalisz spotted a rare form of cancer while looking over abdominal CT scans Gurney had received for something else.

An oncologist later confirmed goblet cell adenocarcinoma, an aggressive form of appendix cancer.

Anna said that because Kalisz was thorough in reviewing the image, the cancer was spotted early; she was able to connect with surgical care here at Duke and now shows no evidence of disease. 

According to the National Cancer Institute, appendix cancer only affects one to two people per million every year in the U.S.