Twin Falls, Idaho (KMVT-TV) Dr. Banu Symington does more than just see and treat patients. She is devoted to medical research, research that she hopes will ultimately help test and treat several types of cancer.

“The goals of clinical trials in cancer are to advance our understanding of how to treat cancer. And the only reason we know how to treat Breast or Colon Cancer right now is because of the participation of patients in clinical trials in the past.”

Symington and her staff at St. Luke's Mountain States Tumor Institute received an award from the National Cancer Institute for outstanding achievement in clinical trials research.

“This was great news for MSTI. I thought it was also excellent news for Twin Falls because it showed what a progressive frontline community we were if we were so involved with clinical trial participation.”

The staff also got recognized in 2010 for recruiting 21 patients into clinical trials, more than any other group in the nation.

Symington looks at cancer as a war, a war that not only each patient is fighting, but one that the global medicine community is also battling.

“You are fighting the war against your personal cancer when you take chemotherapy, but you can be a participant in the global war against cancer if you participate in the trials.”

While the award was a special achievement for Symington, she finds more gratitude in playing matchmaker. She considers herself the matchmaker who brings the patients to the new drugs.