{"id":198712,"date":"2026-03-10T19:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/198712\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T19:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:44:11","slug":"astrocytoma-survivor-why-i-joined-a-targeted-therapy-clinical-trial-at-ut-md-anderson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/198712\/","title":{"rendered":"Astrocytoma survivor: Why I joined a targeted therapy clinical trial at UT\u00a0MD\u00a0Anderson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until Groundhog Day 2018, I\u2019d been living a healthy and normal life in Austin with my wife, Amy, and our two young children. Then one day, I woke up with a really bad headache<\/a> and wound up in the emergency room with suspected meningitis. A few days later, I learned the true culprit: a type of brain tumor<\/a> called astrocytoma<\/a>. That diagnosis<\/a> turned my whole world upside-down.\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

I chose UT\u00a0MD Anderson for my astrocytoma treatment<\/a> for two reasons. The first was a trusted friend and her colleague \u2014 both well-regarded neurologists \u2014 highly recommended it. The other was that UT\u00a0MD Anderson had corrected an inaccurate diagnosis for me 10 years earlier, when I had thyroid cancer<\/a>.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cancer is no less scary the second time around\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

You might think that a second cancer diagnosis wouldn\u2019t be as bad as the first, if only because you have some experience with it now and know what to expect. But that wasn\u2019t the case for me.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

My\u00a0brain tumor diagnosis<\/a>\u00a0was\u00a0significantly\u00a0worse. Being diagnosed with any\u00a0type of cancer<\/a>\u00a0is scary, but\u00a0my\u00a0thyroid cancer was never life-threatening. Once UT\u00a0MD Anderson pathologists corrected my\u00a0diagnosis<\/a>, I was\u00a0treated<\/a>\u00a0successfully for it in Atlanta, where I was living at the time. I\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0had any issues with it since.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

This brain tumor diagnosis really sent me down a rabbit hole. A quick online search revealed that life expectancy for people with my type of astrocytoma was not good. My initial oncology team in Austin took one look at the MRI<\/a> and declared my tumor inoperable. They said it was in a place they couldn\u2019t reach, and moved immediately to a palliative care<\/a> plan involving chemotherapy<\/a> and radiation therapy<\/a>. \u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Discovering what\u2019s only possible here\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fortunately, my care team at UT\u00a0MD Anderson disagreed.\u00a0Dr. Sujit Prabhu<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0arguably one\u00a0of the best brain surgeons in the world. He\u00a0is also\u00a0an\u00a0incredibly compassionate\u00a0human being.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Prabhu\u00a0took\u00a0significant\u00a0time\u00a0to get to\u00a0know Amy and me\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and even our extended family.\u00a0When he had to\u00a0deliver the worst news of my life,\u00a0he did it with such care\u00a0and thoughtfulness that\u00a0we\u00a0actually left\u00a0his office feeling upbeat, thinking, \u201cWe can do this.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

I made such a strong connection\u00a0with\u00a0Dr. Prabhu\u00a0that\u00a0I often share that if I ever\u00a0have\u00a0another\u00a0child, I will\u00a0name\u00a0it\u00a0\u201cPrabhu.\u201d\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

UT MD Anderson\u2019s faculty and staff are also absolutely top-notch. They recognize that a cancer diagnosis is likely the worst moment of your life. But they lead you gently through the entire process and provide support all along the way. When I told Dr. Prabhu that other oncologists had deemed my tumor inoperable, he paused for a second and said, \u201cWell, maybe for them, it is.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

We scheduled my brain surgery for a few weeks later, and started making plans for additional treatment afterward. But Dr. Prabhu was able to remove so much of the tumor that my team ended up changing my treatment plan. I was able to delay radiation and chemotherapy indefinitely, which made me really happy, as those can have permanent, detrimental effects<\/a> when applied to the brain<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead, I\u00a0am being\u00a0monitored\u00a0more\u00a0frequently\u00a0with\u00a0scans, as astrocytoma is known to recur.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Genetic mutation leads to a clinical trial\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2021, I also started taking a new targeted therapy drug<\/a> through a clinical trial<\/a> at UT\u00a0MD Anderson. It was a multi-center study being led at UT\u00a0MD Anderson by neuro-oncologist Dr. Vinay Puduvalli<\/a>. It involved a drug now known as vorasidenib. My care team said I might be eligible for it because I have a genetic mutation called isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-2, which affects an enzyme that triggers cancer growth.\u202f<\/p>\n

I was apprehensive about joining the trial, as the drug\u2019s potential side effects<\/a> were fairly significant. It also involved a lot of time and travel between Austin and Houston. But in the end, it was a cutting-edge opportunity to extend my life and a chance to help others facing cancer. So, it wasn\u2019t a hard decision.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taking a new drug from experimental to FDA-approved\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

I started taking one\u00a0vorasidenib\u00a0pill per day in 2021. I stayed\u00a0on that\u00a0trial for\u00a0the next three years,\u00a0traveling\u00a0to UT\u00a0MD Anderson once a month for scans and\u00a0blood tests<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u00a0did experience some mild side\u00a0effects, such as stomach pain and indigestion, but the results of the clinical trial \u2014 including mine \u2014 were so good that they eventually led to the approval of\u00a0vorasidenib\u00a0for the treatment of astrocytoma by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2024.\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been taking that\u00a0drug ever since, and\u00a0my\u00a0cancer\u00a0remains\u00a0stable.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

The work that Dr.\u00a0Puduvalli\u00a0and\u00a0his\u00a0team\u00a0did to study this drug has given\u00a0me\u00a0hope.\u00a0I’m\u00a0grateful to know that he and other\u00a0brain experts are leading the\u00a0Cancer Neuroscience Program<\/a>\u00a0at UT\u00a0MD Anderson\u00a0and continue to make new advances to benefit patients like me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anticipating the opening of UT\u00a0MD Anderson\u2019s Austin location\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

I still travel to Houston every three to six months to see neuro-oncologist Dr. Nazanin Majd<\/a> for follow-up tests. So, when I found out that UT\u00a0MD Anderson was planning to open a new hospital in Austin<\/a> in a few years, I was over-the-moon excited.\u202f<\/p>\n

This will make life so much easier, not just for me, but for everyone in central Texas who doesn\u2019t have the opportunity to travel to Houston for the best cancer treatment in the world<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

To me, receiving high-quality cancer care<\/a> is what matters most. So, it\u2019s a no-brainer to drive to Houston if that\u2019s what it takes to get it. But knowing that UT\u00a0MD Anderson will soon be here in Austin is incredible. I can\u2019t wait to have it closer to home.\u202f<\/p>\n

Request an appointment at UT\u00a0MD Anderson online<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0call 1-877-632-6789.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Until Groundhog Day 2018, I\u2019d been living a healthy and normal life in Austin with my wife, Amy,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[78479,21940,78480,1145,1147,1142,56,58,57,75671,1148,2822,49546],"class_list":{"0":"post-198712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-astrocytoma","9":"tag-austin-location","10":"tag-brain-and-spine","11":"tag-caregivers","12":"tag-clinical-trials","13":"tag-family-friends","14":"tag-houston","15":"tag-houston-headlines","16":"tag-houston-news","17":"tag-patient-caregiver-stories","18":"tag-patients","19":"tag-survivors","20":"tag-targeted-therapy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}