"Experimental Cancer Drug Gives Dad a Second Chance at Life"
Diagnosed with an invasive tumor in his bladder in 2010, Lee Newton fought through years of chemotherapy and other failed treatments. By 2014, he knew his body couldn’t hold out much longer. Then, Newton was offered a chance to sign up for a clinical trial of an experimental new drug. For Matthew Galsky, MD, director of genitourinary medical oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the drug represented the hope of a long-awaited new treatment for cancer sufferers. “Keep in mind we haven’t had a new bladder cancer treatment in 30 years,” Dr. Galsky, noted. Dr. Galsky had high hopes the new immunotherapy drug, Atezolizumab, would be effective in reducing Newton’s tumors. The results of his trial were so astounding they were presented in Vienna at the European Cancer Congress last month. “The goal of any oncologist is to find better treatments for our patients,” Dr. Galsky said. Learn more.