HELENE HENDRIXSON: CANCER SURVIVOR
(- 3 -)
Under the trial’s protocol, Helene would first have a
small, cancerous lymph node removed from which the
doctors hoped to grow a vaccine. She would then be
subjected to an initial course of chemotherapy. A second
course of chemotherapy would also be administered. Those
patients who had responded to the drug and achieved
“complete clinical remission” would then be given the
vaccine derived from their tumors along with another
drug, QS-21 (a plant extract) that was intended to boost
their immune system.
A key point, however, was never fully explained to
Helene. The implications of it being a Phase I trial.
Phase I trials are described by the National Cancer
Institute as follows:
“The first step in testing a new treatment in humans.
These studies test the best way to give a new treatment
(for example, by mouth, intravenous infusion, or
injection) and the best dose. The dose is usually
increased a little at a time in order to find the
highest dose that does not cause harmful side effects.
Because little is known about the possible risks and
benefits of the treatments being tested, phase I trials
usually include only a small number of patients who have
not been helped by other treatments.”
Still, Helene initially went along with her doctor’s
recommendation and on April 10th had a lymph node
removed so that the vaccine could be grown. The only
trouble is, they put the biopsy sample in the wrong type
of solution and destroyed it. This was hardly a way to
build confidence. Unfortunately, she would eventually
discover that this sort of incompetence was typical of
the medical personnel working on the study.
They also let her know about the two courses of
chemotherapy she would have to submit to.
Continued -->
Helen Hendrixson: Cancer
Survivor 1 -
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