By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    improving patient experience
    6 Ways to Improve Patient Satisfaction Within Hospitals
    December 1, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    What Are The Health Benefits Of Having A Degree?
    March 9, 2022
    custom software development is changing healthcare
    Digital Customer Journey Mapping and its Importance for Healthcare
    July 21, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Can Thinking Younger Make You Live Longer?
    April 20, 2011
    Image
    Obesity’s Outlook Unchanged
    June 13, 2011
    When It’s An Emergency Elderly Not Treated As Well in Hospitals
    July 16, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Lucky Us! How New Medicines Are Cheating Death
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Technology > Medical Innovations > Lucky Us! How New Medicines Are Cheating Death
Medical InnovationsSpecialties

Lucky Us! How New Medicines Are Cheating Death

Andrew Schorr
Last updated: March 20, 2015 8:00 am
Andrew Schorr
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE
Andrew at a recent Patient Power lung cancer town meeting

Andrew at a recent Patient Power lung cancer town meeting

Andrew at a recent Patient Power lung cancer town meeting

Andrew at a recent Patient Power lung cancer town meeting

It hit me again the other day as I hosted a lung cancer event in Tampa, Florida. If we get sick, aren’t we lucky if medical science—just then—has something new, either approved or in a promising clinical trial, that can help us get well?

Floridian Pam Griffith was dying from advanced lung cancer. Standard drugs weren’t working, and the tumors were obvious in several places in her body. With some effort, she was fortunate to enter a clinical trial for a new kind of medicine, a “checkpoint inhibitor” that allows her immune system to not be outfoxed by cancer cells. It has worked. Pam has gone from almost being on her deathbed to playing golf three times a week and may step that up now to four. She feels very good, and—having just met her in person—she looks great. Another man I met, Tony Benchina, was also dying. Soon after retiring after 41 years as a family physician, he got the kind of bad news he had given many others. Again, standard medicines weren’t working, and the new medicine that worked for Pam caused problematic side effects for Tony. But, thank God, there was yet something else that was new. It’s not approved yet, so Tony is in a clinical trial. But it is working. He is gardening and cooking once again. Remember, we are talking about the cancer that takes more lives than any other—lung cancer. This is so hopeful!

In a couple of weeks, I will see with my own eyes that story emerging in two other cancers, melanoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). I have CLL and am doing well, but that is not the same story for everyone. Those two diseases, when they advance, are killers. In Phoenix, I will have the honor on the weekend of March 28-29, to host town meetings for people with melanoma and CLL for the Patient Empowerment Network and partners including the Melanoma Research Alliance, the CLL Global Research Foundation, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. In these conditions too, people who would otherwise be near death are living well. Breakthrough medicines are here and with more coming—mostly daily pills—to help turn off the cancer cells or to allow the immune system to recognize and kill the cancer cells it missed the first time around.

I am meeting people who have the good fortune to be sick at a time when there are truly breakthroughs to give them back better health. When you meet scores of people like this, you feel grateful to the often unseen researchers who made this happen.

At these town meetings, we discuss how you can gain access to such breakthroughs. Often it starts with being in a clinical trial—it did for me with CLL way back in 2000. Or it may be getting on a new medicine soon after it is approved, that happened for me in 2012 when I developed a second cancer, myelofibrosis, and, voila, there was a new drug to control it. Lucky me!

Of course, there are obstacles, you or family members may be afraid of you becoming a “guinea pig” in a clinical trial, or the requirements and travel for checkups may be too tough. You may have insurance issues, or your local doctor, who you like, may not be in the know. After all, how can a general doctor keep up on everything that is new or promising? We discuss all of these issues on Patient Power all the time, so please join our community, so you are “in the know.” And, if you can, attend one of our upcoming town meetings.

There is not a new medicine for everything. Sadly, many people with advanced cancers do not have a breakthrough to count on. But there is a change. Wouldn’t it be great if the change was happening in the condition that afflicts you right now? If that is happening, be sure you can take advantage of it!

TAGGED:cancer
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

Britain Shows Support for Genetically Modified Embryos to Prevent Disease

July 1, 2013
nanopatch vaccine
Medical DevicesMedical InnovationsTechnology

Painless Vaccinations Coming Soon!

September 12, 2013
VNA storing and sharing information
eHealthMedical RecordsRadiologyTechnology

How a VNA Unifies Clinical Data Throughout an Enterprise

January 5, 2015
OrthopaedicsSpecialties

Body Pain And Chiropractic Care: How Are They Related?

November 7, 2019
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?