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The Cancer Warrior Unleashed
Publisher and CEO of The Globe and Mail
Message from
Phillip Crawley
As a cancer survivor, I am deeply passionate about the cancer cause. Immunotherapy
is in its very early days but the potential of harnessing the body’s own immune
system to target and fight cancer holds incredible promise. This publication features
stories about the science of immunotherapy, as well as the patients who are receiving
treatment. Importantly, it also showcases the talented experts who are on the front
lines, researching and developing treatments to advance personalized cancer medicine.
I was very, very
fortunate to get on an
immunotherapy drug
trial program, which
has brought great
success and new hope
to my life.”
“
4
th
Cancer Battle, now
with immunotherapy
In the past six years, Jeanette Edl has faced the fight
of her life four times.
In May of 2010, she was diagnosed with endometrial
cancer, which occurs in the lining of the uterus. “It came
back on three occasions,” says Edl.
It also spread to her lungs.
Edl went through chemotherapy and radiation, as well
as targeted drug therapy. Yet after all of these treatments,
she found herself facing Stage 4 lung cancer last year.
That diagnosis brought her to Canada’s leading cancer
centre, The Princess Margaret, where she took part in an
immunotherapy clinical trial.
Edl was treated with a drug that is intended to provoke
a response from her immune system to attack the cancer.
Within a few months, scans showed the
tumors in Edl’s lungs had shrunk by 70%.
“I was very, very fortunate to get on an
immunotherapy drug trial program, which
has brought great success and new hope to
my life,” says Edl. She hopes she will live to
see her four grandchildren (shown in the
photo above) grow up.
Edl says she and her family are simply in
awe of the potential of immunotherapy.
“Immunotherapy is truly an area that
could help many, many people with cancer
who are fighting for their lives,” says Edl.
Patient Story
