When Will Verbits noticed a cut on the side of his foot in the summer of 2024, he wasn’t worried. The longtime administrator of special education assumed he’d somehow gotten a blister. He was happily looking forward to retirement, eager to brush up on his cooking skills.
But, over time, a lesion developed and grew. As he vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard, it finally became difficult to even put on shoes.
After visits to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, where doctors recommended follow-up with a specialist, Verbits connected with his Boston dermatologist. A biopsy revealed an unexpected diagnosis: Kaposi sarcoma, a rare cancer strongly associated with HIV, which Verbits doesn’t have. However, it can also occur in HIV-negative individuals, including some men in their 60s with Jewish ancestry. He fit the bill.
Finding confidence in collaboration
The diagnosis launched Verbits into a whirlwind of appointments, tests, and consultations across several Boston-area hospitals, including Massachusetts General Hospital, where he underwent surgery to remove the growth, and Dana-Farber, where he sought a second opinion.
“I was still pretty much in head-spinning mode, trying to grasp what was going on and what I needed to do,” he recalls.
Throughout his treatment, Verbits was buoyed by physicians’ willingness to collaborate. His doctors at Dana-Farber, Massachusetts General Hospital, and other institutions worked together to coordinate care and share information.
“I feel very fortunate to live in the Boston area,” Verbits says. “I felt like everybody was talking to each other and looking out for my well-being. I got excellent care. Words alone can’t express how grateful I am.”
At Dana-Farber, specialists reviewed his case and confirmed that surgery had been the appropriate next step. Just as importantly, Verbits says, they helped him feel less alone.
“I kept hearing: ‘We’ve got you. We’re here. We’re going to monitor you. We’re going to take care of you,’” he says.
An incidental finding changes the picture
But, while the surgery successfully removed the lesion, his medical journey was far from over. As part of the evaluation process at Dana-Farber and Mass General, doctors ordered imaging studies, including abdominal MRIs, to ensure the cancer hadn’t spread elsewhere in his body. Those scans revealed several small cystic lesions in his pancreas — incidental findings unrelated to Kaposi sarcoma but significant enough to warrant further investigation.
Because Verbits’s father had died of pancreatic cancer, he was referred to Dana-Farber’s Center for Early Detection and Interception, where he met with Nicolette Juliana Rodriguez, MD, MPH, who directs the center’s surveillance for gastrointestinal tumors. The multidisciplinary clinical and research program is dedicated to detecting and providing a risk-stratified approach to management of precancerous conditions in patients who are at increased risk of developing cancer as well as indolent cancer lesions such as small pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and gastric neuroendocrine tumors.
As a first step, Rodriguez recommended genetic testing, as this could further provide answers about his family’s medical history and inform ongoing surveillance management. Those results did not show a genetic mutation.
“The good news was that the test didn’t come back with any markers or indicators of any specific type of cancer gene,” Verbits says. “Dr. Rodriguez was able to clearly explain my results and tell me that, while the results don’t necessarily mean that I won’t get some type of cancer, they didn’t show that I have a gene mutation that increases my risk for cancer.”
Rodriguez explains that negative genetic testing doesn’t always eliminate the need for monitoring, however. Rodriguez’s care team recommended periodic imaging to monitor the cystic lesions, known as branch duct intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms.
That decision proved valuable.
The importance of careful surveillance
During follow-up MRI imaging in 2026, specialists identified a small, non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. Rodriguez says the finding highlights the importance of careful surveillance programs that can identify abnormalities long before they cause symptoms.
The tumor, she explains, was distinct from the pancreatic lesions that first brought Verbits into the surveillance program. At 0.8 centimeters, it was also reassuringly small.
For many patients, hearing the word “tumor” immediately raises concerns about surgery. But Rodriguez says that isn’t always the appropriate next step.
“For lesions that are less than two centimeters and non-functional, the protocol here is conservative, non-operative management,” she explains. “In the absence of any changes, these lesions are typically very indolent and can be monitored on surveillance alone.”
Verbits appreciated how Rodriguez contextualized the issue and explained that waiting on surgery was a safe option.
“I asked, ‘Why aren’t we going after this and getting it out?’ She explained that the surgery could be very invasive and involved, and assured me that I could get MRIs on an annual basis,” he says.
Today, Verbits’s care team will continue to monitor both the pancreatic cysts and the neuroendocrine tumor through annual MRIs. If future scans reveal changes, management recommendations could evolve. For now, however, surveillance remains the best course.
“The likelihood that this is going to pose any problem in his lifetime is low,” Rodriguez says.
When a low-risk patient is still a high priority
For Verbits, that combination of vigilance and restraint has made all the difference.
Now preparing to retire after more than 40 years in education, he’s eager to spend more time with his spouse and family, which includes his three adult children, on the Vineyard—without worrying about intensive surgery. He enjoys cooking, baking, and tackling projects around the house. Recently, he celebrated a small personal culinary milestone: baking a carrot cake from scratch for the first time.
“It was a best-day moment,” he says.
And while Verbits’s prognosis is good and he currently requires only annual monitoring, he appreciates that Rodriguez treats him as a high-priority patient just the same.
“Dr. Rodriguez is just so wonderful to deal with. After giving me good news about the genetic testing, I thought that maybe I might not talk to her going forward. Not at all: She’s stayed with me. She’s followed me,” he says. “At Dana-Farber, medical professionals did a great job helping to educate me and, more importantly, they put me at ease. I am eternally grateful for this outstanding medical care.”