Susan Lehman has spent a decade in and out of remission from multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer that is treatable but historically not curable. Now 60 and a mother of four, she’s two months into a new immunotherapy called CARVYKTI, and she says she’s back out hiking.
CARVYKTI works differently than traditional treatments. It uses the patient’s own immune cells, retraining them to recognize and attack the cancer. Her oncologist, Dr. Sumit Madan of Banner Health, says the long-term data now shows something bigger than slowed progression, patients are actually living longer. Historically, myeloma patients who failed standard treatments had an average survival of under a year. Dr. Madan says if he can keep a patient alive 10 to 15 years without them dying from their cancer, then to him, it is a cure.
For Suncoast families, especially retirees and snowbirds who make up so much of our community, this is the kind of progress that hits close to home. The open questions are about cost and access. A breakthrough only changes lives if people can reach it. What would 10 to 15 more good years mean for someone in your family?
