For the past two decades, Dr. Scott L. Baylin has helped generations of patients at Catonsville Dental Care keep their smiles as big and bright as his own. Known simply as “Dr. B,” Baylin is a beloved figure among his patients and staff.
But when diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Baylin found himself on a path that would test his characteristically sunny disposition and optimistic outlook.
Baylin’s cancer journey began three years ago after returning from a vacation to Iceland with gastrointestinal issues. A subsequent CT scan revealed that Baylin, a Reisterstown resident and Beth El congregant, had a 9-centimeter mass around his spleen.
His internist told him he had lymphoma, and consultation with oncologists led to a biopsy and diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s marginal zone B-Cell lymphoma.
Initially, the diagnosis brought a sense of relief, said Baylin.
“They said it was going to be pretty easy to treat,” he recalled. “As long as it stayed at a low level and I was asymptomatic, then I was going to live with it for the rest of my life using immunotherapy, and it was not going to be a big deal.”
At first, immunotherapy was effective, but the cancer eventually returned, and doctors added immunosuppressants to Baylin’s treatment regimen.
Once again, he experienced a brief remission. When a visible mass developed above his clavicle, his oncologist told Baylin chemotherapy would be necessary. After just one round of chemotherapy, the mass reappeared.
At that point, his oncologist informed him he would need CAR-T cell therapy, a customized treatment that reprograms a patient’s immune cells to identify and attack cancer cells.
Afterward, Baylin would most likely need a stem cell transplant.
“I did the Car-T and it worked well. I got really sick, but I recovered,” he said.
After that, Baylin’s doctor ordered a specialized blood test called a clonoSEQ, which is not typically used for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, to check for any remaining cancer by comparing it to his original biopsy. There was a long pause for the results to come back. While he and his family waited, Baylin returned to his practice at Catonsville Dental Care and his regular life activities. Colleagues and longtime patients were thrilled to have him back in the office.
“The results of that test finally came back and showed that there was some minimal residual disease,” said Baylin. “It was a low number, but it still was present. So [the doctor] called and said, ‘I’m sorry, but I actually think you do need the stem cell transplant.’ So we got set for that.”
Getting set meant that Baylin’s son, Brandon, a University of Michigan senior who had just been accepted at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, would serve as a compatible stem cell match for his father. (Brandon will be the fourth generation of the Baylin family to attend UMD dental school and practice in the local community.)
But before plans for the transplant were finalized, Baylin’s wife, Lori, suggested they repeat the clonoSEQ test, just to make sure the transplant was absolutely necessary. The doctor agreed.
“[When the results came back] the test showed that the T cells had done everything they were supposed to do and got my MRD [Measurable Residual Disease] all the way down to zero,” said Baylin. “And with that, the doctor called and said, ‘You don’t need the stem cell transplant anymore.’”
For the foreseeable future, Baylin will be retested every three months to make sure the cancer markers remain at zero.
Meanwhile, he said he plans to simply live his life and spend time with family, friends, colleagues and patients.
“It’s been a rough ride, but I just keep a positive outlook and spirit, and I keep smiling,” Baylin said. “I’ve got a lot to live for, so nothing’s going to keep me down for very long. If it does keep me down, it’s just a bump in the road and I move on to the next challenge and I just conquer that.
“That’s the way I’ve lived my whole life,” he said, “and I won’t stop now.”
A committed philanthropist and community leader, Russel was president of R&H Motors.
The mother of four was a native of Winchester, Virginia, who spent most of her life in Northwest Baltimore.
The Columbia resident worked on the Gemini and Apollo space missions.
A St. Louis native, Edelman served as ambassador to the central African nation from 1987 to 1989.