Todd Wiseman, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma survivor
- Todd was treated for lymphoma back in 2020. He had 18 weeks of cancer treatment, but his cancer came back.
- He then was eligible for a newly approved treatment called CAR-T therapy.
- The initial process did not work, but his medical team found a new solution to help him.
- He is now in remission and “feels like two million bucks.” He was so grateful that he could walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding.
- Todd encourages people to do their research to find clinical trials that can make a difference.
- He feels like the staff here is his family because he spent so much time with them.
- Todd is now dedicated to honoring the science that saved his life.
Dr. Nausheen Ahmed, hematologist & oncologist; medical director BMT Survivorship, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- Lymphoma symptoms are hard to recognize, especially for men.
- The first line of therapy when lymphoma is newly diagnosed – even when it's stage four – has a 60 percent success rate. The other 40 percent has relapse and that’s what happened to Todd.
- When his disease came back, it was the time when CAR-T therapy just became approved, so it was a valid option.
- We took his cells out and put them through a machine to filter out the “soldier cells” and sent those cells to a lab to be genetically modified to be put back into Todd. However, Todd’s cells were unable to be modified.
- So, the team decided to use modified cells from another patient to help him – and it worked. It allowed him to get the lymphoma under control for a stem cell transplant from his brother.
- CAR-T therapy is only available at select academic medical centers like The University of Kansas Health System.
- This clinical trial changed the course of the disease to where we were able to get him a more definitive therapy.
