Timing Is Everything!
I’m thrilled to announce that my book Terminal Hope is now available on Amazon! Thank you, NFCR, for featuring me in this week’s podcast to discuss the issues facing cancer treatment options, as outlined in my book.
Terminal Hope: How A Clinical Trial Saved My Life takes readers through the chaos of misdiagnoses, the crushing reality of limited treatment options, and the exhausting battle to access the clinical trial for PLX-4032 (now better known as BRAF/MEK therapy).
What advances occurred during my treatment? Absolutely wild. I landed in the middle of a medical revolution—like Forrest Gump, but instead of ping pong and shrimp, I got immunotherapy and targeted drugs.
How It All Changed:
| Period | Major Breakthroughs |
| 2009–2015 | Ipilimumab, PD-1 inhibitors, BRAF/MEK targeted therapies |
| 2015 | Oncolytic virus therapy (T-VEC) approved |
| 2018 | Encorafenib + binimetinib for BRAF-mutant melanoma |
| 2024 | Lifileucel (TIL therapy) FDA-approved |
| 2020s | Long-term survival from immunotherapy; mRNA & DNA vaccines enter trials |
| 2025 | Targeting new molecular pathways; addressing non-responder gaps |
Before 2009, a diagnosis of advanced melanoma came with few options and grim odds. The standard choices—Dacarbazine (DTIC), high-dose IL-2, surgery, or radiation—offered survival rates barely over 5%.
Today, things look very different. Thanks to breakthroughs in immunotherapy, targeted therapies, and cellular advances, patients are living longer. And some—like me—are living cancer-free.
Terminal Hope is for anyone who’s ever been told, “There’s nothing more we can do.”
My message is simple:
There’s always more.
More to research. More to try. More hope to hold onto.
Your voice matters. Your fight matters. Determination changes outcomes.
And as cancer continues to touch more lives, funding research isn’t optional—it’s essential.
#TransformOncologyCare
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