Joe Szostak was in the middle of a family vacation in Florida in February of 2023 when, while getting changed one morning, he noticed a peculiar lump in his right armpit, the size of a ping-pong ball.
asserted
he → change → ball
Over the next two weeks, Szostak said the lump swelled to the size of an orange.
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lump → say → orange
By April, it had grown to the size of a grapefruit: “I couldn’t even hold my arm up properly.”
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I → grow → arm
Szostak’s doctors eventually determined he had squamous cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
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he → determine → cancer
But by the time the then-67-year-old noticed the growth, it had metastasized, spreading through his body.
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it → notice → body
Physicians gave him two to three months.
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Physicians → give → months
“Then I had to come home and share that with my son,” Szostak told the Star.
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Szostak → have → Star
“I don’t wish that conversation on anyone.”
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I → wish → anyone
Today, Szostak’s condition has stabilized.
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condition → stabilize → ?
He credits his recovery in large part to a new, investigational immunotherapy he received as part of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial at UHN’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
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he → credit → Centre
“I’ve been on this trial for probably well over two years now, with surprisingly no complications, no adverse effects,” Szostak said.
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Szostak → say → complications
“It’s a lifesaver.”
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It → ’ → ?
One out of every $10 spent on cancer treatments in Canada goes towards Keytruda.
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One → spend → Keytruda
Experts warn that something has to give.
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something → warn → ?
One out of every $10 spent on cancer treatments in Canada goes towards Keytruda.
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One → spend → Keytruda
Experts warn that something has to give.
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something → warn → ?
Although it’s still early in the process, and most investigational drugs fail to pass clinical trials, experts are approaching the drug — called invikafusp alfa — with cautious optimism.
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experts → ’ → optimism
Only a few dozen patients have received it.
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patients → receive → it
But, if successful, it could open the door to new treatment pathways for patients who have run out of options.
uncertain
who → open → options
Cancer drugs that target the immune system are revolutionizing how some kinds of tumours are treated, but existing immunotherapies still leave too many patients behind.
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immunotherapies → target → patients
Only about 20 per cent of patients with solid tumours respond to current immune-targeting drugs, which is why experts say research into investigational therapies like the one Szostak took are so important.
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Szostak → respond → one
“What’s exciting about immunotherapy is that it works even in some patients who have very advanced disease; they still can have a complete response” and be rescued, said Dr. John Bell, senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and scientific director of BioCanRx, Canada’s Immunotherapy Network.
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Bell → ’ → BioCanRx
“Cancer is a very complex disease and we’re never going to have one pill or one immunotherapy that’s going to work,” said Bell, who was not involved in the clinical trials.
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who → go → trials
“But combinations of them have a real chance to cure people — and keep them cured.”
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them → have → people
Developed by U.S. biopharmaceutical company Marengo Therapeutics, invikafusp alfa is administered via intravenous infusion and is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials.
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alfa → develop → trials
If successful, it could take up to 10 years for this therapy to reach clinics, the Toronto investigators say.
uncertain
investigators → take → clinics
Results of the phase 1/2 clinical trial were published Friday in Nature Medicine.
Joe’s story
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Results → publish → Medicine
Although Szostak was advised to get his affairs in order following his terminal diagnosis, he refused to give up.
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he → advise → diagnosis
In April, over eight hours, a surgeon removed the grapefruit-sized tumour.
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surgeon → remove → tumour
Over the next year, he underwent immunotherapy, then chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
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he → undergo → immunotherapy
Szostak lost his hair, feeling in his toes and hands, and suffered a blood clot that made his arm swell up “like the Michelin man.”
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arm → lose → man
By the end of 2023, he’d lost 50 pounds and his cancer spread.
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cancer → lose → pounds
He developed a lesion under his right arm and a nodule in each lung.
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He → develop → lung
Desperate, Szostak approached a company in the U.S. that offered to sequence the genome of his cancer to identify potential drugs.
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that → approach → drugs
After shelling out “several thousand dollars,” it produced a 38-page report.
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it → shell → report
He shared the findings with oncologists at hospitals including Princess Margaret, with low expectations — and was surprised when the Toronto cancer centre called him back about a new trial.
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centre → share → trial
Szostak became one of a few dozen patients around the world with access to invikafusp alfa.
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Szostak → become → alfa
Compared to previous treatments, it was like “night and day,” Szostak said.
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Szostak → compare → night
“When I walk out of my infusion treatments every three weeks, I feel ...
asserted
I → walk → treatments
I could run around the block.”
uncertain
I → run → block
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
