With Dana-Farber’s Help, Grandmother Becomes Great Grandmother 

Written by: Lukas Harnisch-Weidauer
Medically Reviewed By: Natalie Sinclair, MD

Six years ago, Ina Kornetsky was looking forward to a new chapter in her life. The lifelong teacher had most recently worked with older adults before retiring, and she had a deep understanding of the kind of life she wanted as she approached 90.

She was preparing to move from Stoughton, Mass. into a continuing care community in Canton when she noticed a bump near her rib cage during a routine physical.

The resulting scans and biopsy revealed that Kornetsky had BRCA-positive ovarian cancer that had metastasized. She was referred to Dana-Farber for treatment, where she was first seen by Ursula Matulonis, MD, chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology.

Moving when she did turned out to be fortuitous: Her proximity to her son allowed him to drive her to her treatment appointments. Her Dana-Farber care team, which specializes in ovarian cancer treatment and support, was also able to develop an individualized treatment plan for her – and adapt it based on new discoveries.

Ina Kornetsky

A new treatment just in time

Over the next few years, chemotherapy and a PARP inhibitor stopped her cancer from growing. But in 2022, Kornetsky’s cancer showed signs of advancing again just as she transferred her care to Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center – Foxborough. She would receive the same level of care closer to home.

Her new physician, Natalie Sinclair, MD, determined that the cancer had become platinum-resistant, meaning the standard platinum-based chemotherapies were no longer working. Fortunately, Sinclair and her team had another tool in their belt, a new drug that was recently approved by the FDA because of research done at Dana-Farber by Matulonis.

The treatment, called mirvetuximab soravtansine, is a combination of antibodies and chemotherapy that targets the protein FR-alpha which is present in many ovarian cancers including Kornetsky’s. The mirvetuximab antibody targets cells with FR-alpha, releasing the chemotherapy into the cell and killing them while sparing healthy cells.

In March 2024, Kornetsky became the second patient at Dana-Farber Foxborough to receive the treatment. Her treatment coincided with the solar eclipse, and Kornetsky, an avid reader and poet, began writing.

The Eclipse and the Drips!

By Ina Kornetsky

The chemo is dripping in gradually like a

slow flowing stream.

I’ve been given decaf and Lorna Doones

a cancer patient’s “dream!”

The first bag empties quickly, the

preparatory one.

The next bag is readied – the one that

really “gets things done!”

I look out my window, the cubicle

has a large one.

The decorative twinkling lights on the spindly trees are bright in the

fading sun.

The chemo enters my veins, I no longer

see the sun.

The moon slowly glides, the dimming

darkness has begun.

The shadow passes, the eclipse is over

the eclipse is done!

I lay there thinking is the eclipse a metaphor —

after darkness there is light.

As doctors and patients continue

their challenging fight!

Kornetsky has done so well on mirvetuximab that she has been able to pause the medication temporarily. In the meantime, Kornetsky witnessed the birth of her first great grandson.

“What a beautiful moment,” she recalls. “I’m so grateful to everyone at Dana-Farber.”

Family is one of the most important things to Kornetsky, 91. She speaks with one of her two children at least once a day. And if they aren’t visiting, she spends her time with friends from her living community. But most of all, she enjoys reading a good book or writing poetry.

“Ina is a remarkable woman,” says Sinclair. “She is incredibly independent and strong.”

The key to living a full life, Kornetsky says, is a positive outlook. “Strive to value the small things as much as possible, whether it’s family or talking to a friend or simply enjoying the day.”

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