Tony, a 51-year-old letter carrier, had been through multiple treatments for his stage four melanoma. His oncologist had recently told him that there were no further treatments available to him at the local Cancer Center, but that he might want to look into experimental treatments being tested in clinical trials elsewhere in the country. Tony did not want to “be a guinea pig”, but he also didn’t want to give up fighting. His oncologist recommended that he call the Center to discuss issues related to clinical trials, as well as help him find a clinical trial he might be eligible for.
Tony and his patient advocate researched available clinical trial listings, narrowing down options based on Tony’s prior treatments, where he would be willing to travel, the type of therapy and what his insurance would cover. They called the clinical trial coordinators to get more information and obtained Tony’s medical records and scans to find out if he was eligible for some of the trials.
The advocate put Tony in touch with another melanoma survivor who had been to a clinical trial at the location Tony was favoring and also supported him when he made a final decision to participate in a specific clinical trail.
