Clinical Trial: Stem Cell Inhibitors

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” -James 1:17

Carolyn's cancer hasn't grown at all since July. Below is a timeline of Carolyn's cancer reduction/growth so you can get a bigger picture of the status of her cancer.

Cancer Growth/Reduction Timeline:

• November 2012: Carolyn began experiencing significant pain in her side.
• May 2013: Carolyn starts chemo treatment.
• July 2013: Cancer is reduced by 20%.
• May 2014: Chemo stops working and cancer has grown 2%.
• June 2014: Carolyn starts new chemo treatment.
• July 2014: Chemo doesn't work, cancer has grown 2%, she stops all treatment.
• Oct 2014: Carolyn qualifies for clinical trial and scan results show that in the last 3 months the cancer hasn't grown at all even though she hasn't been on any treatments.

So if you look at the above timeline, Carolyn is still in a better place today than she was in November 2012. Her cancer is 16% smaller than it was two years ago. Incredible.

Carolyn has qualified for a clinical trial. But it isn't what was originally expected. The Cancer Genome Projects results revealed that there was indeed a treatment match. They found VEGFA in her cancer which is currently a hot topic in cancer research. With VEGFA, the cancer grows to a certain size and then stops and starts to steal resources from surrounding sources such as blood vessels - it's goal is to take all the good nutrients it can possibly steal. This result make sense given that Carolyn's cancer has grown very little since 2 years ago ... it's possible it has grown as much as it will and it is now trying to take over through other means. However, before we get excited about the treatment for VEGFA, the bad news is that the treatment has a high risk for causing blood clots ... and Carolyn has already experienced blood clotting with previous treatments so she is immediately disqualified for VEGFA treatment.

But the GOOD NEWS is that the board discussed her case and decided to place her on a different clinical trial altogether. They are looking at treating her via Stem Cell Inhibitors which is a very targeted approach to cancer. Instead of attacking her fully body as chemo tends to do, this treatment will attack only the cancer cells. The medication is called BBI503, is a Phase 1 clinical trial, and is just one pill that she takes every morning. It's so new that only a handful of other people are on this medication. What's great about clinical trials is that the treatment is completely paid for by the drug company. And in a phase 1 trial what they are trying to determine are the common side affects, right dosage and whether it has any affect on the cancer.  What's not so great is that Carolyn has to go to Cancer Center 3x a week with one of those days being a 9 hour day so that they can monitor her blood levels and the affect the dosage has on her. She will go 3x a week for a couple of months and then she only has to visit once a month from there on out.

Because the side affects of this treatment are not well known, Carolyn can stop this treatment at any time she wants. So if the side affects are too bad, then she doesnt have to continue. Please pray that the side affects aren't debilitating so that she can see this treatment to the end.

Carolyn's Calcium Levels are Really High. Even though she has been off any treatments the last few months, she was still experiencing a lot of nausea and fatigue. She thought this was an indication that the end was near, when as it turns out - her calcium levels were just really high! It's so good to know that the cause is something easily fixed by fluid treatments and drinking more water!

Thank you, everyone, for your continued love, prayers and support!

You may have noticed that I've started naming my mom as Carolyn in this post. From here on out, I will start using "Carolyn" since the majority of you know her by her name and "mom" is reserved for only two of us in the world. :)