Revolutionary New Cancer Treatment Leaves Ohio Woman Disease-Free in Only 30 Days

Many issues transcend politics — or should — and, just like Alzheimer’s (about which I wrote recently — here) this is certainly one of them.

A woman in Youngstown, Ohio claims a clinical trial has left her cancer-free.

Denise Keenan was diagnosed in 2009 with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She’s been battling the disease ever since, with periods of remission interspersed.

After almost a decade of struggle and several failed treatments, she told Cleveland’s Fox 8, she’d more or less given up:

“[I] started getting used to the idea of not being here anymore.”

Her husband, Jim, confirmed:

“She’s convinced me probably a hundred times over the years that she was a goner.”

According to pet scans, the cancer had spread throughout her lungs and chest.

But in August, something amazing occurred.

Denise participated in a clinical trial for a treatment called CAR T-cell Therapy, which, administered via a single syringe, re-engineers a person’s T-cells to locate and destroy their cancer cells.

University Hospitals is the nation’s first administrator of such a trial.

Here’s a quote from Dr. Paolo Caimi, an oncologist:

“We collect the patient’s cells (and) they get modified with a particular virus that introduces the genetic modification over twelve to 14 days.”

Thirty days after the trial’s initiation, Denise’s cancer is gone.

Of course, as she acknowledges, the long term is anyone’s guess:

“The jury’s still out as far as how long this is gonna last because they just don’t have a lot of long term data.”

For now, though, she could be one of the first recipients of a modern marvel. Either way, she’s optimistic and enjoying the blessing it’s brought, if only for the time being:

“The future is unknown, so just enjoy the moment. I think you’re a lot happier if you can do that.”

As per Fox 8, the treatment doesn’t appear to work on everyone; nevertheless, it could be revolutionary:

Doctors say they still don’t know exactly why some people respond better to CAR T-cells than others, since the trial is still in the very early stages.
But they say the new treatment is very promising, especially for cancers of the blood and organs.

Relevant RedState links in this article: here.

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