Every two weeks, a camper parked in a small lot one mile from the Duke Cancer Center becomes home base for Spencer and CarleyAnn Laird.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are from Swansea, South Carolina, about four hours away,\u201d said Spencer Laird, 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For two years, the Fury camper with its bold black and blue design towed behind the Lairds\u2019 truck, helped the family explore new sights.<\/p>\n
That freedom was a welcome change for the Lairds, after Spencer was first diagnosed with colon cancer when he was just 26.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doctors in South Carolina at the time diagnosed him with stage I colon cancer. He underwent surgery when he was 27 and said he was told it was unlikely the cancer would return.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything was good for two years,\u201d Spencer Laird recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CarleyAnn Laird added, \u201cThey said, \u2018You\u2019re good. Go live life.\u2019 So that\u2019s what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spencer Laird told WRAL he \u201cdidn\u2019t really have symptoms,\u201d when he went in for a routine checkup. CarleyAnn pushed doctors to perform a scan anyway, which revealed an unexpected result.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when they found 13 tumors,\u201d Spencer Laird said. \u201cThe whole world just kind of stops. I thought for sure this was it. They told me two to three years at best, with chemo and radiation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spencer Laird said his largest three tumors were the size of golf balls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOne was pushing on my heart, one of the big ones was pushing on my windpipe, and they were on both sides in both lungs. They were everywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The couple said they didn\u2019t want Spencer to undergo chemo or radiation. That\u2019s when CarleyAnn Laird said she started looking for a second opinion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very terrified to be a widow. I have been with him since I was 15,\u201d CarleyAnn Laird said while sitting beside Spencer Laird in their camper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said the couple\u2019s main focus has always been on their daughter, now 6.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re slowly watching him, and that was my biggest fear. I didn\u2019t want her to experience that,\u201d said CarleyAnn Laird.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the family packed up and headed north for the first of many trips to Duke.<\/p>\n
The family said support from their church and community back home has helped them make the frequent trips to Durham while continuing to care for their daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen CarleyAnn got me up here to Duke, it was just for a second opinion,\u201d Spencer Laird said. \u201cThey looked at the scans and everything and there was nothing good to say about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the family was told Spencer Laird was a candidate for a new clinical trial just starting out of the Duke Cancer Center and funded in part by Gateway for Cancer Research.<\/p>\n
Duke Health Oncologist Dr. Nicholas DeVito is among the team of researchers leading the groundbreaking efforts to find new therapies for stage IV colon cancers which have spread to other organs but not the liver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This trial is investigating the use of Botensilimab and Balstilimab, immunotherapy drugs that have shown promising results in treating late-line colorectal cancers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DeVito explained the most common form of colorectal cancer, called microsatellite stable colorectal cancer, currently has no approved immunotherapies, leaving chemotherapy as the primary treatment option when the disease spreads.<\/p>\n
Chemotherapy can be effective for many cancers, but it can be difficult for some patients because of how much it impacts the body and daily life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile chemotherapy has high response rates, it doesn\u2019t work forever and it doesn\u2019t even work for a very long period of time,\u201d DeVito explained. \u201cImmunotherapy can work for a very long period of time and even cure some people of stage IV cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chemotherapy attacks rapidly dividing cells, which includes cancer cells but can also target healthy cells. Immunotherapy works by boosting the body\u2019s immune system so it can fight cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DeVito said the researchers designed the trial with a simple goal: to put themselves in their patients\u2019 shoes. Researchers hit their goal of enrolling 15 patients in two years, in just 14 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very patient-oriented trial,\u201d DeVito stated. \u201cIf I was a patient who wanted to continue working and spending time with my family, I would want a therapy that\u2019s ideally going to control my cancer for the longest possible period of time with the fewest side effects, and I\u2019d want that treatment to be given first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lairds shared the same mindset. Spencer became just the second patient enrolled in the trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really feel like God led us here in so many different ways,\u201d Spencer Laird said. \u201cWe came for a second opinion. Then when they started talking about it we were like, \u2018I guess this is why we\u2019re here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
A year after beginning treatment, the Lairds say the difference is even better than they could\u2019ve imagined.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nearly all 13 tumors are now gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re looking at two-three spots now,\u201d Spencer Laird said. \u201cNow, the biggest one is 0.6 centimeters, which is nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeVito noted that it is possible the remaining areas they are focused on may no longer be cancerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey might just be scar tissue,\u201d DeVito said. \u201cOne important part about Spencer, and we’ll learn more about this in time, is that his CEA \u2013 which is an imperfect but useful blood marker of colon cancer that we use once someone has been diagnosed to monitor their treatment\u2013 has plummeted. That along with the scans and how he feels, all support this idea that he has a long and enduring response to immunotherapy, which is a first.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Spencer Laird, it has meant more time with his daughter and the chance to envision a future that once seemed in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means the world to me to be able to be there for her,\u201d Spencer Laird said.<\/p>\n
CarleyAnn Laird added, \u201cI think it’s very important to have a father as a little girl. You kind of set the tone for everything. He teaches her everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple said they encouraged other families in similar situations to seek second opinions, and to always advocate for the best care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For now, the Lairds expect to make trips to Duke for the rest of the year, but hope to one day spend less time in their home-away-from-home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DeVito will present interim data from the clinical trial at the American Association for Cancer Research national conference in April.<\/p>\n
DeVito said the next steps would be to expand the clinical trial and involve more biomarker-driven investigations to better understand which patients may benefit from immunotherapy the most.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real beauty of this study is that we’re only treating patients with immunotherapy. Therefore, you get an idea of how the cancer changes in response to only that immunotherapy. You’re not throwing the kitchen sink at someone \u2013 chemo, immunotherapy, targeted therapy \u2013 and then you say, \u2018I don’t know what did what,\u2019\u201d said DeVito.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DeVito shared the thinking that led to this study may be viewed as \u2018against the grain\u2019 but advocated more studies need to push the envelope, especially as more young patients receive diagnoses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that there’s a real potential to move this forward, conceptually in colon cancer, but in other cancer types,\u201d DeVito said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He continued, \u201cWe should be pushing the limits and saying what we’re doing for patients is not good enough, and trying these novel agents earlier on in therapy, and getting a real understanding of how they work in a cancer that hasn’t been exposed to other treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lairds say they know the future isn\u2019t guaranteed, but the results of that approach have already changed their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t say I\u2019m cancer-free, but I feel like I am,\u201d Spencer Laird said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every two weeks, a camper parked in a small lot one mile from the Duke Cancer Center becomes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[687,47844,9102,88309,97],"class_list":["post-529676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-cancer","tag-clinical-trials","tag-colon-cancer","tag-duke-health","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}