Thank you for detouring to read my profile page.
This space is a good opportunity to briefly expand on the clinical trial noted in my pledge letter. Essentially the trial is focused around a genetic patch that was injected into my parotid salivary glands. I received a ton and 1/2 of radiation in the couse of my cancer treatment. The patch is intended to repair the damage to my salivary gland and thereby increase my saliva flow. As it stands now, there is no treatment for the cause of xerostomia (dry mouth/throat).
As I understand these matters, a Phase 1 trial is intended to test for safety, doseage and side effects. Twenty individuals were enrolled in the study at a small handful of comprehensive cancer sites, including Dana-Farber.
Apparently I was the twentieth individual to be enrolled, so I had some sense when starting out that the other 19 people had at least made it past the start line without incurring any substantial set backs.
At the end of the Phase 1 trial, all twenty of the individuals reported postive results from the study medicine (meaning, increased saliva flow). The Phase 1 group appears to have not only survived but we have prospered.
Based on this outcome, the patch is moving forward this year to a double blind Phase 2 study, where there will be a cohort of 120 individuals, with half receiving the patch, and the second half will receive a placebo.
It is simply fascinating that someone can isloate a genetic code and somehow turn that into a medicine that may someday resolve what is otherwise an incurable condition.
That I was selected to particpate is to me like winning the health care lottery.
I've heard it said that where you are first treated for cancer matters. To this point, Dana-Farber has made it possible for me to have a small role in paying forward the state of the art for survivorship.
Thank you for detouring to read my profile page.
This space is a good opportunity to briefly expand on the clinical trial noted in my pledge letter. Essentially the trial is focused around a genetic patch that was injected into my parotid salivary glands. I received a ton and 1/2 of radiation in the couse of my cancer treatment. The patch is intended to repair the damage to my salivary gland and thereby increase my saliva flow. As it stands now, there is no treatment for the cause of xerostomia (dry mouth/throat).
As I understand these matters, a Phase 1 trial is intended to test for safety, doseage and side effects. Twenty individuals were enrolled in the study at a small handful of comprehensive cancer sites, including Dana-Farber.
Apparently I was the twentieth individual to be enrolled, so I had some sense when starting out that the other 19 people had at least made it past the start line without incurring any substantial set backs.
At the end of the Phase 1 trial, all twenty of the individuals reported postive results from the study medicine (meaning, increased saliva flow). The Phase 1 group appears to have not only survived but we have prospered.
Based on this outcome, the patch is moving forward this year to a double blind Phase 2 study, where there will be a cohort of 120 individuals, with half receiving the patch, and the second half will receive a placebo.
It is simply fascinating that someone can isloate a genetic code and somehow turn that into a medicine that may someday resolve what is otherwise an incurable condition.
That I was selected to particpate is to me like winning the health care lottery.
I've heard it said that where you are first treated for cancer matters. To this point, Dana-Farber has made it possible for me to have a small role in paying forward the state of the art for survivorship.
I have chosen to keep all of my donors' information confidential; therefore it is not displayed on my PMC public donor list.
