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Patient is thankful for taking the last space in clinical trial
Three-time cancer survivor Doris Vazques has gotten through her treatments with support from Leonard Appleman, MD, PhD, and others.
Sophisticated CT scans and blood tests confirm what Doris Vazquez's own fingers have told her: that the investigational drug she is receiving in a clinical trial at Dana-Farber is prompting her tumor to shrink. Scientists believe the medication may be a potent angiogenesis inhibitor.
Three days after beginning therapy, Vazquez noticed that a gumball-sized lump in her neck was getting smaller. After a week-and-a-half on the medication, she couldn't feel it at all. CT scans and laboratory tests revealed that masses on her kidney and lungs were shrinking as well.
"Before this, I was being treated with interferon," the Hartford, Conn., resident states. While that drug seemed effective, "it left me with very little energy. My hair was thinning, and I couldn't do much around the house. I had difficulty with laundry because my hands were so tired; I was too exhausted to walk."
Vazquez enrolled in the trial after being told about it by her Dana-Farber oncologist, Leonard Appleman, MD, PhD, who leads the Institute's kidney cancer research effort. "There was just one space left in the study," she recalls. "I decided to take it."
For Vazquez, this represents her third bout with cancer. She underwent surgery in 2000 to remove a large mass on her right kidney, then had radiation therapy a couple of years later for a small tumor on her tongue. When a mass appeared on her remaining kidney in 2003, she received interferon before seeking a less punishing alternative.
Initially, Vazquez developed migraine headaches and frequent nosebleeds with the new therapy, but after the dosage was reduced, the only side effects she's experienced are a rise in blood pressure, which may be controlled with medication, and some tiredness, although much less than she had with interferon. Says Vazquez, "I call Dr. Appleman and the people at Dana-Farber my angels."
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