SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 27, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — The eyes of the world were on Salt Lake City Friday, where Vice President Joe Biden met with top researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute to discuss ‘Project Moonshot’ — the billion-dollar boost designed to double the progress made toward finding a cure for cancer in the next decade.
A key consideration for the newly announced plan is the sharing of information on new targeted gene therapies, including those which trigger a patient’s immune system to fight off cancer.
One such therapy, already in development at Huntsman, is bringing about a dramatic change in how doctors treat advanced cases of the deadly skin cancer, melanoma.
A diagnosis of advanced melanoma was often considered a death sentence, with a 10-year survival rate of just 10 to 15 percent.
But that was in the past.
Recent clinical trials conducted by Huntsman have produced remarkable success for some patients, including Larry Hegland of Farr West, Utah, whose exclusive story was first reported by Gephardt Daily in April 2015.
After enduring two bouts of melanoma, the 67-year old Hegland had to make a choice. He could continue fighting, against extremely long odds, or he could get his affairs in order and simply give up.
At low tide emotionally and riddled with pain, Hegland said he had decided to call it quits — until doctors at Huntsman offered him an alternative -– a chance to take part in a clinical trial.
During the trial, a team of researchers led by Dr. Robert Andtabacka, surgical oncologist for Huntsman, injected a modified cold sore virus into Hegland’s tumors, tricking his immune system to attack the cancer cells, not only at the injection sites, but throughout Hegland’s body.
Unlike chemotherapy and radiation, side effects of the new treatment were mild. Hegland said he experienced some redness where he was given the injections, but felt no worse than having a flu shot.
A few months later, Hegland heard the words he never thought he would hear: “You are cancer free.”
To learn more about the treatment which cured Larry Heglan’s melanoma, please click on the video player above.
