Access to Innovative Treatment
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| Jean Rich |
Though Jean Rich, 68, has lived in nearby Savannah, Tenn., for 40 years, her first patient visit to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital came just this past spring. Rich came to General Hospital to receive treatment for a ruptured disk, but what her doctor discovered while she was there may have saved her life: her X-rays revealed that she had small-cell lung cancer.
“The people at Jackson-Madison County Hospital were very good to me and made sure I had everything I needed. No one likes being sick, but the doctors and nurses made the experience as comfortable as possible,” Rich said.
Her physician, oncologist and hematologist, Dr. Salomon Asmar, expected that Rich might be a good candidate for participation in a clinical trial to treat her cancer. In a clinical trial, patients receive new treatments in combination with the current standard of care or new combinations of commonly used drugs. The West Tennessee Cancer Center, in partnership with the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, conducts research and clinical trials that incorporate findings from the research to improve the health and quality of life of patients.
Rich received two different chemotherapy treatments in the clinical trial. Throughout the clinical trial process, she received the same high standard of care as other cancer patients, but she also had a research nurse assigned to her case, who constantly monitored her reactions to the treatments.
“Going through chemotherapy treatments is hard on anybody,” Rich explained. “But now I’m getting back to life as it used to be.”
“Clinical trials contribute to knowledge about the disease and progress in reducing or eliminating cancer,” explained Jennifer Lawson, research nurse in the cancer center at General Hospital. “Many of today’s most effective cancer treatments are based on previous study results. Because of this progress, many people treated for cancer are now living longer.”
For more information, call the West Tennessee Cancer Center at (731) 425-5087 or e-mail cancercenter@wth.org.
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