Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

California Republican Leader Calls for ‘Two State Solution’ Amid Redistricting Fight

29 minutes ago

Three Dead in Minneapolis Shooting, Including Shooter, Justice Department Official Says

2 hours ago

Israeli Tanks Close in on Gaza City, Trump to Chair Meeting

3 hours ago

Wall Street Opens Muted in Countdown to Nvidia Earnings

3 hours ago

Fresno Leaders Voice ‘Full Support’ for Pismo’s Restaurant Manager in ICE Custody

19 hours ago

Poll: Katie Porter Holds Early Edge in California Governor’s Race

22 hours ago

Just 38% of Americans Support Trump’s Use of Troops to Police DC, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

23 hours ago

California Farming Couple Seeks $300 Million for Aspen Estate

1 day ago
A Clinical Trial Saved My Life. So Why Aren’t More Cancer Patients Enrolling?
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 6 years ago on
December 14, 2019

Share

I was 37 years old, and the mother of two children ages 1 and 4, when I was diagnosed with Stage IV inflammatory breast cancer. It is a rare, aggressive form of breast cancer that attacks the lymphatic system around the breast. It is usually fatal, widespread by the time a diagnosis is reached.


Laura Holmes Haddad
Special to CALmatters

Opinion
Initially misdiagnosed as mastitis, a biopsy confirmed that it was cancer that had spread to lymph nodes and a rib, and I started chemotherapy. When my breast tumor was still growing after two rounds of AC chemotherapy, my oncologist said there was nothing more to do.
In that moment, I had no options. I was stunned, to say the least. But one day later, an oncologist at a comprehensive cancer center said he thought a clinical trial might work.
I was terrified at the thought of taking an experimental drug but more afraid of dying. He identified two trials and we waited for an answer. A patient doesn’t just find a trial and enroll as if it is a medical version of college admissions.
The oncologist applies on the patient’s behalf and acceptance is based on myriad factors, including type and stage of disease, prior treatment and a patient’s general health. This is particularly difficult if a patient is in an underserved community or population.
I was ready to sign anything, to go anywhere. Clinical trials can save lives. They are conducted at some hospitals, or clinical-trial sites throughout the U.S. But the trials aren’t necessarily at the hospital or medical institution where the patient is being treated.

I Became Trial Patient #985

Travel costs are rarely, if ever, covered by the drug company or health insurance. This creates an absurdity in the system: a patient may be accepted into a trial but unable to get there to participate, because they have limited incomes and can’t afford the travel costs.

Photo of Laura Holmes Haddad at City of Hope in 2018
Laura Holmes Haddad at City of Hope in 2018. (CalMatters)
The trial for which I was suited was already closed, but 30 days later I was accepted on a compassionate use waiver, or what the FDA calls expanded access. This allows a patient whose life is immediately threatened to receive an “investigational medical product.”
Every week for six months I traveled from the Bay Area to the renowned City of Hope in Southern California, receiving every chemotherapy treatment, blood draw and scan at City of Hope.
I became Trial Patient #985.
The emotional, financial, and physical effects were profound. Total strangers donated airline miles, family donated hotel points, and neighbors helped with babysitting and ballet carpool.
But it worked: after six months the study drug shrunk my tumor enough to make me a surgical candidate. A bilateral mastectomy with 19 lymph nodes removed; a salpingo-oophorectomy; 42 days of radiation therapy; and reconstructive surgery followed.
I remained on 800mg of the study drug every day for almost two years after that. In May 2015 I was declared NED, or no evidence of disease, and remain so to this day, at age 44. I am lucky, I know that.
But tens of thousands of Americans with advanced and/or rare cancers need this kind of luck, too. Fewer than 1 in 20 adult cancer patients in the U.S. enroll in a clinical trial, according to a 2019 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The Remedy Is Twofold

That translates to 8% of eligible cancer patients in the U.S. enrolled in a clinical trial. With approximately 1.7 million new cancer cases diagnosed in the U.S. in 2018, according to the American Cancer Society, the need for improved access to trials becomes startling.

Photo of Laura Holmes Haddad’s husband, Munir, daughter Penelope, and son Roman
Laura Holmes Haddad’s husband, Munir, daughter Penelope, and son Roman. (CalMatters)
Patients need education, access and support in the process. The barriers to clinical trial access are numerous and include socioeconomic and structural factors. Most patients don’t know if trials are covered by their insurance, and it can vary depending on the state. In addition, even many local oncologist providers don’t know about current trials.
The remedy is twofold.

  • First, better educate both patients and providers about ongoing clinical trials, how to access them and how they will be covered by most insurances. To patients, trials can be frightening; for providers, the process of finding one can be overwhelming.
  • Second, a stronger connection is needed between regional treatment sites (community practices typically cannot offer trials due to the complexity) and larger comprehensive cancer centers, with coordinated and seamless access to those larger centers given the greater availability of clinical trials conducted there, to open up the door more widely to trials.

This partnership would allow patients to get more information and education and allow institutions and trial sponsors to access more patients.
Without these important changes, today’s cancer patients will be left without promising treatments, and lives will be lost. And tomorrow’s patients will suffer from the lack of important discoveries that come from successfully completed trials.
About the Author 
Laura Holmes Haddad is a cancer-patient advocate speaker living in Marin County, and author of “This is Cancer: Everything you need to know, from the waiting room to the bedroom,” laura@lauraholmeshaddad.com. She wrote this commentary for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California Republican Leader Calls for ‘Two State Solution’ Amid Redistricting Fight

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Find Two Narcotics Labs, Firearms in Southeast Home

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to More Than 9,000 Acres in Sierra National Forest

DON'T MISS

Three Dead in Minneapolis Shooting, Including Shooter, Justice Department Official Says

DON'T MISS

TikTok Owner ByteDance Sets Valuation at Over $330 Billion as Revenue Grows, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Fatal Collision Under Investigation Near Kerman

DON'T MISS

Israel’s Gaza Campaign Is Making It a Pariah State

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Plans to Take Control of Washington Union Station

DON'T MISS

Israeli Tanks Close in on Gaza City, Trump to Chair Meeting

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Soros and His Son Should Be Charged With RICO

UP NEXT

Wilted Lettuce. Rotten Strawberries. Here’s What Happens When You Round Up Farmworkers.

UP NEXT

Renewal of CA Cap and Trade Program to Cut Emissions Fraught With Issues

UP NEXT

Joe Castro: A Life Cut Far Too Short, but His Legacy Marches On

UP NEXT

Why Epstein’s Furious Grip on Washington Holds

UP NEXT

I Was Preyed On for My VA Benefits. California Can Stop It

UP NEXT

My Friend Joseph Castro, Former Fresno State President and CSU Chancellor, Is Receiving Hospice Care

UP NEXT

California’s Finances Face a Perfect Storm. It Could Eventually Lead to Another Tax Hike

UP NEXT

What Trump Is Really Up to With the Military Occupation of DC

UP NEXT

Immigrant Students Shape California’s Future. Don’t Close the Door on Them

UP NEXT

Trump’s Domestic Deployments Are Dangerous. For the Military

Three Dead in Minneapolis Shooting, Including Shooter, Justice Department Official Says

2 hours ago

TikTok Owner ByteDance Sets Valuation at Over $330 Billion as Revenue Grows, Sources Say

2 hours ago

Fresno County Fatal Collision Under Investigation Near Kerman

2 hours ago

Israel’s Gaza Campaign Is Making It a Pariah State

2 hours ago

Trump Administration Plans to Take Control of Washington Union Station

3 hours ago

Israeli Tanks Close in on Gaza City, Trump to Chair Meeting

3 hours ago

Trump Says Soros and His Son Should Be Charged With RICO

3 hours ago

Wall Street Opens Muted in Countdown to Nvidia Earnings

3 hours ago

Zohran Mamdani, Rapper Turned NYC Mayoral Frontrunner, Embraces Diverse Roots

3 hours ago

California Searchers Pull Off High-Altitude Rescue of Missing Hiker

17 hours ago

California Republican Leader Calls for ‘Two State Solution’ Amid Redistricting Fight

California’s top Assembly Republican is pushing a plan to divide the state in two, describing it as a “two state solution” to ongoing redist...

29 minutes ago

California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher proposed splitting the state into two, calling it a “two state solution” to separate inland GOP areas from coastal Democratic strongholds amid a redistricting battle. (GV Wire Composite)
29 minutes ago

California Republican Leader Calls for ‘Two State Solution’ Amid Redistricting Fight

Fresno police discovered two narcotics labs, multiple firearms, and operating slot machines during a probation check, leading to three arrests. (Fresno PD)
47 minutes ago

Fresno Police Find Two Narcotics Labs, Firearms in Southeast Home

The Garnet Fire in Fresno County’s Sierra National Forest has burned 9,170 acres with no containment as crews focus on protecting PG&E infrastructure near Balch Camp, the U.S. Forest Service said Wednesday, August 27, 2025. (U.S. Forest Service)
1 hour ago

Fresno County Garnet Fire Grows to More Than 9,000 Acres in Sierra National Forest

Photo of caution tape
2 hours ago

Three Dead in Minneapolis Shooting, Including Shooter, Justice Department Official Says

The ByteDance logo is seen at the company's office building in Shanghai, China July 4, 2023. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

TikTok Owner ByteDance Sets Valuation at Over $330 Billion as Revenue Grows, Sources Say

2 hours ago

Fresno County Fatal Collision Under Investigation Near Kerman

Palestinian Child Carrying Water Amid Gaza City Rubble
2 hours ago

Israel’s Gaza Campaign Is Making It a Pariah State

U.S. National Guard members patrol inside Union Station, after U.S. President Donald Trump deployed National Guard and ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement to assist in crime prevention, in Washington, DC, U.S., August 21, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Trump Administration Plans to Take Control of Washington Union Station

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend