OPINION:
I received a blood cancer diagnosis when I was 58. Now I am 75, thanks in large part to participating in two clinical trials.
My disease is chronic lymphocytic leukemia, an incurable blood cancer. I have had serious complications and many rounds of various cancer treatments.
I am concerned about the recent slowdown in federal funding for medical research of all kinds. The clinical trials in which I have participated, like much other research, benefited from funding from a variety of sources, including the National Institutes of Health.
Scientists use clinical trials to ensure that experimental new treatments are safe and effective in people and to compare them with available treatments. Trials are crucial for finding cures and helping everyone with cancer live longer, fulfilling lives.
When my cancer was diagnosed in 2009, the only treatments available to me were crude chemotherapies and one immunotherapy. By 2014, I needed treatment for the first time. I had lost 30% of my body weight and was too weak to walk up a flight of stairs without stopping.
Fortunately, cancer researchers everywhere were exploring new small-molecule therapies that are not chemo- or immunotherapy at all.
I entered my first clinical trial to have access to a promising new small-molecule therapy. I got partial remission from the trial, but it was not smooth sailing. Still, scientists learned from my trial and improved treatments as a result.
My strength returned to the point where I could get back on my bicycle and help raise money for lymphoma research.
Yet in 2023, and after several other lines of treatment, I was going downhill again. So I entered a second clinical trial for my CLL.
It worked like a charm. I had my first complete remission — and no detectable cancer cells.
There is no guarantee that all clinical trials will be effective, but science cannot advance without data collected from people in clinical trials. Clinical trials are also the only way to make sure that new cancer treatments are safe and effective for everyone.
I believe in clinical trials because I believe in science. I hope others find ways to support these trials too, either by participating in one or by donating to organizations that support cancer research.
Washington
Please read our comment policy before commenting.