Cancer and Clinical Services Patient Stories

Keeping ahead of a relentless disease

A blood test for a routine physical in 2012 suggested leukemia, but Laurence Lannom, who was living in Maryland at the time, was told it wasn’t a big deal. “The first oncologist I saw kept saying I shouldn’t worry — that something else would kill me — but the prognostic indicators kept getting worse,” he says. After a confirmed diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), Laurence was eventually told he probably had six to eight years to live.

He’s now beat those predictions and gives a large degree of credit to clinical trials, including his latest at the OSUCCC – James.

“I’ve relied on clinical trials — not necessarily for a cure, but to keep the disease at bay — and they’ve done just that. CLL becomes resistant to targeted therapies, so I’ve had to keep adjusting too. Each trial has helped me move forward,” Laurence says.

By the time he was searching for his third trial, Laurence and his wife had moved to Oberlin, Ohio, about two hours north of Columbus. As their search unfolded, they were able to draw on their own insight from his two previous trials, as well as connections established through CLL support groups they had cultivated in the Washington, D.C., area and in Oberlin, under the sponsorship of the CLL Society. A friend from the D.C. support group connected Laurence to the Ohio State study.

The phase I study Laurence participated in at The James is being led by principal investigator Jennifer Woyach, MD, who holds the D. Warren Brown Designated Chair in Leukemia Research and has played a major role in developing new targeted treatments that produce lasting remissions for many patients with CLL. Today, she co-leads the OSUCCC – James Leukemia Research Program.

“When I was diagnosed, CLL was characterized as a fatal, incurable cancer. Because none of the existing treatments could cure CLL, I decided I wanted to at least help move the ball forward,” Laurence says. “It’s often said that a clinical trial is tomorrow’s treatment today, and I always tell people that if you want someone to pay attention to you, join a clinical trial — you really get some focused care. I was confident in the safety of my trial at Ohio State, too. It only required me to take a pill, which had almost no side effects."

“I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Woyach and her entire team. She was always very generous with her time and followed up quickly to all my email questions. I’d describe ours as a golden relationship.”

Laurence emphasizes that CLL needs more support and education. “Unfortunately, the oncology community at large still knows little about this particular cancer, so I was fortunate to find the kind of experts I did at The James,” he says.

Although his participation in the Ohio State trial has ended, and Laurence is moving on to a new treatment closer to home, he values his experience at the OSUCCC – James. “What I’ve found is that when you’re treated at an institution that’s got a lot of research going on, you get higher quality care,” he says. “Thanks to clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health and academic research centers like Ohio State, CLL science is advancing rapidly, and that has allowed me to keep ahead of my disease.”