Timothy Leech just celebrated his 40th birthday when he got news that changed his life. Timothy was diagnosed with Stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, in 2014. Doctors told him he had only a short time to live. “I freaked out, for sure. I thought I was going to be gone real quick,” Timothy said. But, today, eight years later, Timothy is a cancer survivor. He credits his wife, Katie Leech, his medical team, and a clinical trial for getting him to where he is today – not entirely cancer-free but “so small that it’s immeasurable.” A clinical trial is a research study that helps researchers learn more to help slow, manage, and treat diseases like cancer. “It was very much like, this [clinical trial] is the last roll of the dice here,” ...
Timothy Leech acababa de celebrar su cumpleaños número 40, cuando recibió una noticia que cambió su vida. Timothy fue diagnosticado con carcinoma de células escamosas en etapa 4, una forma de cáncer de piel, en 2014. Los médicos le dijeron que le quedaba poco tiempo de vida. “Claro que me asusté, Pensé que me iba a ir muy rápido", dijo Timothy. Pero hoy, ocho años después, Timothy es un sobreviviente de cáncer. Él le da crédito a su esposa, Katie Leech, a su equipo médico y a un estudio clínico por llevarlo a donde está hoy, no completamente libre de cáncer, pero "tan pequeño que no se puede medir". Un estudio clínico es un estudio de investigación que ayuda a los investigadores a aprender más para ayudar a reducir el progreso, controlar y tratar ...
Clinical trials can help researchers learn to better treat asthma – but they need diverse volunteers. Black and Latino children who have severe asthma, are prone to asthma attacks, and live in low-income urban neighborhoods are underrepresented in asthma treatment clinical trials, even though they are more likely than whites to face health inequities that can exacerbate asthma symptoms. Fortunately, a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trial with mostly Black and Latino children found that a monoclonal antibody – mepolizumab – can decrease asthma attacks by 27%. Antibodies are made naturally in the body to fight infection. A monoclonal antibody is made in the laboratory and administered to patients to treat a variety of diseases and infections, ...
Willie Heard is a man of faith. His faith stood strong even after he got tragic news in September 2013. Heard was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of bone marrow cancers in which the bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells. His cancer diagnosis came just months after retiring from his job at USAA and just shy of his 67th birthday. “I’m a religious person and a minister and, I think I remember telling the doctor, I said, ‘Doctor you do what you do, I’m gonna let God do what he does,’” said Heard, a resident of San Antonio, Texas. “[The cancer diagnosis] was a surprise to me, but I’ve always been a person that don’t really worry about stuff I can’t control, so I don’t let that bother me.”
Heard’s Decision to ...
Willie Heard es un hombre de fe. Su fe se mantuvo fuerte incluso después de recibir noticias trágicas en septiembre de 2013. Heard fue diagnosticado con síndrome mielodisplásico (SMD), un grupo de cánceres de médula ósea en los que la médula ósea no produce suficientes células sanguíneas sanas. Él recibió el diagnóstico de cáncer pocos meses después de retirarse de su trabajo en USAA y justo antes de cumplir 67 años de edad. "Soy una persona religiosa y un ministro y, creo que recuerdo haberle dicho al doctor, le dije: 'Doctor, haga lo que usted hace, y yo voy a dejar que Dios haga lo que Él hace'", dijo Heard, un residente de San Antonio, Texas. "[El diagnóstico de cáncer] fue una sorpresa para mí, pero siempre he sido una persona que realmente no se ...
Alzheimer’s patients and their loved ones have new reason for hope after positive results from clinical trial of a new treatment called lecanemab. Lecanemab – a drug designed to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by targeting amyloid plaque buildup in the brain – reduced the progression of cognitive decline among trial participants by 27% over 18 months, compared to placebo, according to UsAgainstAlzheimers. “This is very important and quite positive news that gives our nation’s 6 million Alzheimer’s patients and their loved ones reason to hope again. In fact, the data is a reminder that each drug in this class of therapies is quite different,” said George Vradenburg, chair and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimers. What do the results show, and how will ...
Leonel Rodriguez got some terrible news in November 2019. Doctors diagnosed Rodriguez, a South Texas resident, with mantle cell lymphoma – an aggressive, rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After going through several treatment options, his disease persisted. He soon learned about a potentially beneficial clinical trial for lymphoma patients at the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio. Clinical trials help researchers learn how to better slow, manage, and treat diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. “[Clinical trials were] the best way because, you know, I feel good now with the treatment,” Rodriguez said. “Now I feel I've been feeling well, and well, well.”
Rodriguez’s Decision to Participate in a Clinical Trial
Rodriguez first experienced problems in ...
Leonel Rodríguez recibió una noticia terrible en noviembre de 2019. Los médicos diagnosticaron a Rodríguez, un residente del sur de Texas, con linfoma de células del manto, una forma agresiva y rara de linfoma no Hodgkin. Los primeros medicamentos que tomó para tratar el cáncer en realidad empeoraron su condición. Pronto se enteró de un estudio clínico potencialmente beneficioso para pacientes con linfoma ofrecido por el Mays Cancer Center de UT Health San Antonio. Los estudios clínicos ayudan a los investigadores a aprender cómo reducir el progreso, manejar y tratar mejor enfermedades como el cáncer y el Alzheimer. "[Los estudios clínicos fueron] la mejor manera porque, usted sabe, ahora me siento bien con el tratamiento", dijo Rodríguez. "Ahora siento que me ...
By 2030, 40% of Alzheimer’s patients in the U.S. will be Latino or Black. However, Latinos make up less than 1% of participants in National Institutes of Health clinical trials. Clinical trials are studies that help researchers learn more to help slow, manage, and treat Alzheimer’s and cancer for current and future family members. Without Latino volunteers for clinical trials, the benefits may miss this group. With Compadre CART at the Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s & Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio participants have the opportunity to help an underrepresented, high-risk group maintain independence with aging. To participate, contact Luis Serranorubio of the research team at 210-450-8447.
Compadre CART Study Goals
To learn more about why ...
