Carl Stewart
In 1998, Carl Stewart was told he had only a short time to live after doctors found a large lymphoma tumor in his brain. The tumor likely stemmed from a kidney transplant from many years before. The post-transplant medication he had been taking to weaken his immune system and keep it from attacking the donated kidney had also enabled a virus called Epstein-Barr (EBV) to run rampant and lead to lymphoma.
When Stewart came to Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James), he enrolled in an antiviral drug therapy clinical trial led by Michael Caligiuri, MD, whose laboratory, along with collaborators at OSU, had devised an animal model of human central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma. Researchers hypothesized that novel drug therapies targeting EBV and lymphoma cells in the lab could be explored in humans with EBV and primary CNS lymphoma.
“Dr. Caligiuri said I’d be the first patient with transplant-related primary CNS lymphoma to undergo this therapy,” Stewart says. “I jumped at the chance.” Less than a year later, the tumor was gone, and Stewart remains cancer-free – a prime example of a patient benefiting from innovative, science-based treatment.
Linda Craig
The latest and most sophisticated forms of cancer treatment are offered to qualifying patients who participate in clinical trials, or studies designed to test the effectiveness of promising new therapies. A case in point is Linda Craig, who agreed to enter a clinical trial at the OSUCCC – James after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I felt a strong need to do this because I have two grown daughters, and if I could save them from going through what I had to go through, then I wanted to do that,” Craig says, noting that she put a lot of thought into her decision and realized that new treatments will come about only through research-based clinical studies.
“There’s no way we’ll ever find out about new treatments unless people step to the plate and say, ‘Yes, I am going to do this’," Craig explains. "Because I chose to take part in a clinical trial at The James, I truly believe I received the best treatment there is to have.”
Bernie Speyer
For more than 65 years, the Buckeye football team could count on Bernie Speyer’s support. Today, Bernie counts on the Buckeyes.
After being diagnosed with an early stage of prostate cancer, Bernie Speyer underwent a radical prostatectomy. A year after his surgery, during a routine checkup, his prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which helps detect prostate cancer in men, was discovered to be elevated. Fearing his cancer had metastasized; Bernie underwent six weeks of radiation treatment.
Five years later, Bernie’s PSA level was discovered to be higher than before his initial surgery. Hearing the news, Bernie was anxious to do more and consulted with his doctor. He told his doctor he wasn’t ready to give up and was willing to try whatever other options were available. Based on Bernie’s previous treatments, his physician, Robert Bahnson, MD, found a clinical trial in which Bernie was eligible to enroll. The clinical trial called for Bernie to receive an initial injection of Zoladex once a month coupled with Casodex, which he took orally every day.
After the first treatment, his PSA level went down. After the second, his PSA level was virtually undetectable. Initially, there were minimal side effects which consisting mainly of hot flashes which have since subsided.
Today, Bernie still participates in the clinical trial and will continue for as long as he wants. He has routine blood work to monitor his continued success.
More importantly, Bernie is back to his famous Buckeye tailgate tradition. Decked out in his Buckeye gear, Bernie sports a hat adorned with Buckeye pins collected over the years. When asked which pin is his favorite, Bernie points to the gold one in the very front which reads “cancer survivor.” “That one,” he says, “is the one I’m the most proud of.”
Nancy Vowell
In September 2005, Nancy Vowell of Columbus went to the doctor with what she thought was a simple, albeit painful, case of gallstones. Through routine blood work to confirm her gallstones, doctors noticed Nancy had an unusually low red blood cell count.
After additional testing, doctors discovered that Nancy had multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer formed by cancerous plasma cells in the blood. When plasma cells grow out of control, they can form a tumor, usually in the bone marrow. This type of tumor is called a myeloma, and if there are many of them, they are called multiple myeloma.
“When you find out you have cancer, it is a very scary thing,” says Nancy, a former nurse with more than 36 years of experience in the healthcare industry. With no known cure for multiple myeloma, Nancy knew she was in for the fight of her life and needed to find the most advanced treatment available. She made the decision to get a second opinion at Ohio State’s James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.
At The James, Nancy met Don Benson, MD, a member of the multiple myeloma treatment team. Nancy underwent induction treatment with a regimen recently developed in clinical trials and achieved a remission. She went on to complete a successful stem cell transplant but unfortunately relapsed several months afterwards. Nancy courageously completed a full treatment course with another novel treatment recently approved through the results of several clinical trials. Nancy received Velcade® which has kept her in remission for nearly two years. Unfortunately, her myeloma count began to climb once again earlier this year.
After assessing her options, Dr. Benson suggested Nancy enroll in a clinical trial using a new drug that had shown to lower the myeloma count in the blood. Because of her nursing background, Nancy knew that there would be uncertainties with participating in a clinical trial, including the possibility of side effects.
Nancy began the six-week trial with no complications or discomfort. During the last week of the trial, she became very ill, experiencing what would be considered typical side effects including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Although Nancy withdrew from the study, her myeloma remained under good control and she has remained in remission without requiring further treatment.
Today, Nancy is considered to be in remission. However, as a multiple myeloma survivor, her condition will have to be carefully monitored for the rest of her life. Although there is no known cure for multiple myeloma, through clinical trials scientists are discovering more about what causes the disease and how to improve treatment. Currently at The James, there are nearly a dozen clinical trials open for patients with myeloma, offering promising new therapies to patients with the condition.
“People see me and what I’ve been through and it gives them hope,” says Nancy. When asked if she would consider participating in another clinical trial, Nancy doesn’t hesitate. “Absolutely, without a doubt,” she says “I enjoy life, I enjoy living and I want to be part of the cure.”
Donn Young
Of all the surprises that Donn Young, PhD, might have imagined receiving for his 60th birthday, a diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer wasn’t one of them. But that’s what he got. Just a few days before, during a pre-operation visit for a routine back surgery, he had requested a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which can detect prostate cancer. “It was just on a whim,” Young recalls. “I had no symptoms, but it had been a few years since I’d had a PSA.”
PSA levels in healthy men are usually less than four; Young’s came back at 78, and a repeat test showed them at 90. As a biostatistician who had designed and managed clinical trials with the cancer program at Ohio State for more than three decades, Young knew there was something terribly wrong. Young said, “I’ve worked with enough research data and crunched enough numbers to know.”
On his birthday, Young had a prostate biopsy that confirmed cancer with bone metastasis to several vertebrae, his right shoulder and hip, and a couple of ribs. “Having your prostate biopsied instead of blowing out candles is no fun,” he says, adding that the results were even worse, since there is no known cure for his advanced illness.
Young turned to Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James), where Steven Clinton, MD, PhD, enrolled him in a clinical trial that involves a pair of drugs. The first drug stops the body’s production of testosterone and androgen, while the other blocks those hormones from binding to tumor cells. The trial is designed to determine whether an intermittently administered regimen of this therapy is as effective as continuous therapy in promoting overall survival.
“This is an equivalency rather than a curative trial,” Young explains, noting that the study opened in 1995 and accrued patients until October 2008. “So it’s taken all these years to find out whether the intermittent regimen is as good as what the standard of care was when the trial started.” The median survival time for men on this trial is 34 months.
In May 2009, Young had reached the 29-month mark, and his PSA levels were virtually undetectable. "So far, so good,” he says. “But the reality is that at some point this cancer always escapes hormonal control. My hope is that, through this therapy, I can buy a number of years until they can find out why and devise another targeted therapy.”
Young knows the only way to make progress against his and other forms of cancer is for more people to enroll in science-based therapeutic clinical trials that can turn discoveries into innovative treatments. Although retired from the University, Young stays active and upbeat. He works out at a gym every day, serves as PTA treasurer at his daughter’s school, and coaches youth volleyball.
Understanding the need for continued funding to support cancer research, he also signed on to ride in the inaugural Pelotonia, a three-day bicycling event designed to raise $4 million in its first year and $40 million over five years for Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.
“I never have been much of a worrier or a negative person,” he says. “I just take each day as it comes and have fun doing what I want to do. It’s always a matter of what you make of life rather than how long you live – but I hope to live a long, long time.”