Keeping vigilant
One patient's pursuit of a cancer cure
By Christine Cleary
Michael Violandi has applied his skills as a police officer to his role as a cancer patient: physical fitness, an eagerness to learn, and a desire to solve puzzles.
Although Michael Violandi's cancer went into remission last fall, he faithfully showed up at Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital all winter long for a course of aggressive treatment. A police officer on leave, Violandi was on duty in a new way: to chase his cancer away and make sure it didn't come back.
To do so, he needed a full force of scientists, clinicians, and support staff working together to test an experimental therapy on him and nine other patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). "I'm getting the treatment, plus-plus," he says of the trial, which includes 40 more patients at other centers.
Violandi, 30, was diagnosed last summer, after he dropped a piece of sheetrock on his ankle as he worked on renovations to his new house. Blood work at his local hospital showed high numbers of white cells, an indication of leukemia, and he was referred to DFCI. "Suddenly, we were looking at the sign, 'Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,'" says his father, Vince. "We couldn't believe it."
Doctors gave Violandi three options: standard chemotherapy, high-dose chemotherapy plus a stem cell transplant, or a clinical trial consisting of chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, and a vaccine created from his own tumor cells and engineered to make his body fight any cancer recurrence. He chose option three because, as he says, "It offered me the greatest chance of a cancer-free life."
His decision immersed him and his family in the complex world of experimental medicine. Enrolled in protocol 01-290, a Phase I and II clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine in peripheral stem cell transplant for AML, Violandi suddenly had several doctors and many nurses. Others worked on his behalf behind the scenes, such as laboratory scientists developing the vaccine, and administrators collecting data and tabulating results. "One advantage to being in a clinical trial, as opposed to standard care, is that more people are watching," says Dana-Farber's Jill Shanahan, study coordinator for 01-290. Daniel DeAngelo, MD, PhD, is its principal investigator.
Social worker Mary Lou Hackett, LICSW, offers a steady presence to Violandi and his family as they encounter many treatments and caregivers.
"The ultimate goal for this trial is to find ways to improve care and decrease the average relapse rate of 50 percent for some patients with acute leukemia," says Richard Stone, MD, Violandi's chief doctor and a collaborating investigator for the study — one of 25 now under way at Dana-Farber for leukemia patients. "Once it returns, the cancer is harder to deal with."
- Next: Turning cells from bad to good
- Page: 1 | 2 | 3
