Ann Marie O’Callaghan and Perjeta

By DAVID BELK, MD A respected group of cancer specialists developed a chemotherapy program for a breast cancer patient. But then her insurance company denied the claim, so the cancer center stuck her with a bill three times as large as what they would have required from the insurance company. In June of 2012 Ann Marie O’Callaghan got some of the most terrifying news a woman can get: she had breast cancer. Worse, Ann Marie was only 39 at the time and the oldest of her two children was about to go into kindergarten. Cancers that strike young women can often be very aggressive, but fortunately there were proven treatments for her particular breast cancer. After six months of intensive chemotherapy her stage III tumor had shrunk to become a stage I tumor which could be removed by a simple lumpectomy. After she received local radiation treatment to her breast there was good reason to believe she might be cured. Then, last summer, her cancer came back. It was only a small, locally recurring tumor, but any cancer that recurs is likely to be tougher to treat because it’s already learned to survive the original therapy. Ann Marie wanted to be able to raise her children, so she returned to the same specialists who had knocked her cancer back the first time. A nurse anesthetist herself, she knew to consult internationally respected oncologists at the Baylor College of Medicine. They recommended a chemotherapy regimen that included an new agent called Perjeta because it had ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs