Carolyn Graham has been living with carcinosarcoma for six years . Today , it ’ s more like the cancer is living with her , thanks to treatment she received through a clinical trial at the O ’ Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center .
ABOVE : Carolyn Graham ( right ) with her friend BELOW : Graham and her sister ( left )
“ My cancer has not grown in over two years ,” Graham said . “ It ’ s just sitting there like , ‘ Here I am . I ’ m just going to stay here .’ If it ’ s not growing , that ’ s good .”
This definitely is an improvement from the early years of Graham ’ s cancer struggle . A CT scan in 2017 revealed that a carcinosarcoma had spread and a mass had attached to her intestines . UAB Medicine surgeon Sushanth Reddy , M . D ., removed the mass , then Graham began seeing Rebecca Arend , M . D ., an associate scientist at the O ’ Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center and co-director of the Experimental Therapeutics Research Program , for further treatment .
Six cycles of chemotherapy and 25 rounds of radiation shrunk the tumor but did not eliminate it . So , Dr . Arend conducted molecular testing and discovered that the mutation was in a Wnt signaling pathway , which just happened to be a focus of study in Dr . Arend ’ s lab .
Dr . Arend suggested that Graham take part in a Wnt modulator clinical trial she is leading as the national principal investigator . It required Graham to travel every other week to Birmingham from Talladega – where she ’ s worked for 38 years at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind – for a 30-minute session to receive the treatment provided through the clinical trial .
“ Within two months , I could tell it was helping me ,” Graham said . “ It doesn ’ t knock me down like that strong stuff did . I can take care of myself , do housework , get around . My body ’ s not breaking down with it . It doesn ’ t make me sick , and my hair doesn ’ t fall out . It ’ s really kept my body going .” In fact , the clinical trial might have done much more than that . Dr . Arend says it probably helped keep Graham alive .
“ This is a type of aggressive cancer that she likely would have died from several years ago ,” Dr . Arend said . “ Instead , everything has been completely stable for the last few years . This is an example of personalized medicine for a rare type of tumor . It ’ s the culmination of several things that came together in a very well-tolerated drug .”
Since the carcinosarcoma has not gone into remission , Graham still must make the regular trip to UAB Medicine for treatment . Following the death of her husband last year , Graham says she has turned to her younger sister and a few good friends to drive her to Birmingham .
Other than that , Graham says she continues to take care of herself and has plenty of living left to do . If the cancer wants to tag along , then that ’ s OK .
“ I don ’ t sit around and grieve about it and moan , ‘ Oh , I got cancer .’ I ’ ve got a bucket list , and I still want to do it ,” Graham said . “ I want to take the train that runs through the Tennessee mountains . That ’ s always been a dream of mine . I ’ m going to keep myself going .” ❚■
CAROLYN GRAHAM