A clinical trial saved my life

By the time I got to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, I had already been through the wringer.

I'd had my spleen removed, spent over a month in the hospital, and gone through multiple rounds of high-dose chemo, all before being diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. At MD Anderson, I underwent an autologous stem cell transplant, which unfortunately wasn't successful.

MD Anderson was about to launch a CAR T-cell lymphoma clinical trial, and Sattva Neelapu, M.D., co-leader of the multi-center study, had just one spot left. I was excited to learn that I qualified.

Before I was on a clinical trial, I felt sorry for patients participating in them. I considered clinical trials a last-ditch effort, and I felt they marked a really low point in someone's life.

So, when I was faced with the possibility of being on one myself, my reaction wasn't at all what I expected. I felt grateful to have another option — a really viable one that my doctors were excited about. And for the first time in a long time, I actually felt hopeful.

I'm happy to report that the trial worked, and I'm now in remission. Even better, CAR T-cell therapy has since been approved by the FDA for treating lymphoma based on the results of the MD Anderson-led trial.

Knowing that I was a trailblazer in this area makes me feel so proud. Clinical trials are the future of medicine.

MD Anderson must have support from friends like you to continue funding groundbreaking research — like the clinical trial that saved my life.

Please give now in honor of National Cancer Research Month. Help blaze another trail.

Thank you, Emily Dumler