Eric
Posts : 9738 Join date : 2012-07-30 Age : 73 Location : Pensacola
| Subject: BC/BS of Illinois - No Biopsy authorized... "You're going to die anyway" Tue Jul 02, 2013 12:49 pm | |
| The whole story (link) The good part: - Quote :
- I was lucky to have enough slides from a 2011 biopsy to have the University of Colorado test my tumor for the relatively new ROS1 genetic mutation in my tumor tissue. Because I tested positive for ROS1, I was able to enter a clinical trial for the targeted therapy crizotinib, a drug which inhibits my ROS1-driven cancer. The trial treatment eliminated both nodules and has given me No Evidence of Disease Status for five months. I am once again able to enjoy traveling, writing, and doing things with my family. If I had not had leftover biopsy slides, an EMN biopsy would have been my only opportunity to obtain enough tissue to test for ROS1. Without that ROS1 trial and crizotinib, I might be dead by now.
Doctors who don’t keep current on new treatment options and then decide a biopsy “is not going to affect long-term health outcomes” for metastatic lung cancer patients are insuring those patients will die sooner rather than later.
That’s not the kind of health insurance I want. Do you? | |
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