Cambridge 02138
Positive psychology, Dawson v. Marinaro, Trinity squash
Revolution in Cancer Care
I followed Ken Garabadian—the patient who was the focus of “Ken’s Story,” by David G. Nathan (January-February, page 36)—in the STI-571 (Gleevec) clinical trial at Dana-Farber by a few months (I started in February 2001), and so I was quite fascinated and impressed by your excellent and informative article.
I do want to point out that I, and some other patients with a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), are important exceptions to a point made in the article that the eventual emergence of drug-resistant tumors is virtually the rule in single-agent chemotherapy like Gleevec. Next month I will celebrate six years on Gleevec, which initially shrank my three tumors 75 percent and has kept them small and stable ever since. Apparently, about 15 percent of this original group still has not shown tumor resistance after five years or more on Gleevec. I remain on the clinical trial at Dana-Farber (in spite of living in North Carolina), which has been continued by Novartis in order to follow this original group of patients that included Ken Garabadian.
A final note: back in 2000, I learned about the availability of STI-571 at the Dana-Farber clinical trial via an electronic listserv group of fellow cancer patients. Such patient-caregiver e-mail groups have proven to be a critical means by which patients with rare kinds of cancer find out about new treatment options and clinical trials. Therein lies another good story for your magazine.
Charles D. Korte, Ph.D. ’69
Raleigh, N.C.
In the summer of 1995, quite by accident, it was found that I had chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The course of treatment prescribed was massive daily doses of alpha interferon. The treatment was partially successful, but the side effect, for me, was depression. I was morose to the extent that thoughts of suicide came into my head very frequently. This condition had prevailed for about one and a half years when the drug stopped being effective. The depression lifted but the outlook was grim.
One evening in 1996, my wife and I saw on the TV news a report that an experimental drug, STI-571, had had remarkable success in an Oregon program of about 30 patients suffering from CML. Because I had late-stage CML and interferon had stopped being effective, I was a good candidate for a Novartis program in New York and entered it about six months later. In just less than three months, after taking a daily oral dose of Gleevec, I was in total remission and have remained so ever since. I am looking forward to attending my fiftieth class reunion at the Law School in April, an event which seemed very unlikely for me in 1996.
Arthur Kronenberg, J.D. ’57
Hackensack, N.J.
Three cheers for this fascinating article on the frontiers of cancer research. While an undergraduate, I had the good fortune to live with the physician featured in the story, George Demetri. Even then, he had dreams of medical advance: his plan was to discover a contraceptive for men. Sometime during medical school, he found a new calling.
Your article is a testament to the power of ambition in the service of others and the beauty of chasing one’s dreams.
Richard Marks ’78
Brookline, Mass.
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