The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a treatment for the most common form of blood cancer, which is showing promise in patients.
"I wanted to do this treatment because I wanted everybody to benefit from it. To me, it's a miracle; it’s a whole different thing from chemo,” said Juan Lee, a cancer patient.
In 2012, Yee was diagnosed with stage 4 follicular lymphoma. He spent years undergoing chemotherapy, but cancer kept coming back.
"I made an appointment with my oncologist. He told me the same thing, ‘The cancer came back. You need to do chemo.’ And I was like, ‘No. I'm done. I don't want to do anything anymore.’ Chemo can ruin my kidneys, can ruin my liver."
His doctor suggested he take part in a clinical trial for Lunsumio, which is the first bispecific antibody to be approved by the FDA to treat follicular lymphoma.
It's currently used as a third-line treatment, meaning patients must receive two prior therapies.
Treatment options for patients with this condition who relapse have been limited until now. Doctors say many of the patients who participated in the original trials are still in remission.
As for Yee, he didn't have any of the side effects with Lunsumio that he suffered undergoing chemo and is now four years cancer free.
Interested patients should talk with their oncologist about their treatment options.
