His given name is Don Rodriguez. But within the friendly confines of Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada (CCCN), the 77 year-old has a bit of a different name.
Superman.
Beyond the bright blue and red Superman shirt that Don proudly sports to each of his appointments, he truly is a heroic character. Rodriguez grew up in New Mexico and moved to Henderson when he was three years old. He worked as a machinist and welder at a Henderson plant for most his adult life, never having any major health issues.
On January 3, 2015, Rodriguez was experiencing falling spells while in Cedar City, Utah. After visiting the emergency room and a series of tests, Rodriguez was surprised to learn — after having no recent red flags in his health — that he had advanced non-small cell lung cancer, which metastasized to his brain and adrenal glands. Rodriguez first received radiation therapy to treat the brain metastasis, and began chemotherapy in February 2015. Unfortunately, chemo was not working for him so, being the go-getter he is, Rodriguez was ready to explore other options to get better. And, in weighing his options, he didn’t just want to improve his health solely for himself — at the forefront of his thoughts were his wife Jeanene of 37 years as well as his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were counting on him, too.
Amid his options was a drug approved to treat non-small cell lung cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 4, 2015. It is recommended for patients who have been previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, like Don. Prior to being approved for lung cancer, Nivolumab was approved for patients with inoperable melanoma who were not responding to any other forms of treatment.
Don started treatment on April 2, 2015 and was among the first wave of people to receive the drug, commercially known as Opdivo. During its trial stage, the drug helped many lives throughout the United States. Nivolumab is the same category of drug that helped former President Jimmy Carter become cancer-free.
Carter is being treated with is Pembrolizumab, commercially known as Keytruda; an anti PD-1 receptor antibody. It is a form of immunotherapy — in which the drug helps boost the body’s immune system so it can fight harmful, cancerous cells. Cancer develops a “camouflage” shielding itself from the immune system so it can survive, grow and spread. Nivolumab and other anti PD-1 antibodies strip away that camouflage, exposing the malignant cells to the the body’s immune system, which recognizes and eliminate the cancer cells.
At CCCN, and through its affiliations with The US Oncology Network, the practice offers 170 cutting-edge clinical trials each year — and Nivolumab was one of them. Due to our extensive research of the agent in its trial stage, the physicians and staff at CCCN were very familiar with Nivolumab prior to FDA approval.
Within his first doses of Nivolumab, Rodriguez began seeing dramatic results. His tumors immediately ceased metastasizing and began shrinking shortly thereafter.
Rodriguez was experiencing confusion and balance issues prior to Nivolumab, but after treatment began feeling normal again. Where gaining weight can be difficult to near impossible for cancer patients, Rodriguez actually gained 33 pounds.
Since April, we’ve been seeing Rodriguez at CCCN for treatment every two weeks and he continues to have a great response to this treatment. And, by the way things are going; he is well on his way to being in full remission and hopefully cancer-free.
We only hope that he’ll keep wearing his Superman shirt, because he is truly just that. With a winning attitude, the help of a groundbreaking new medication and (perhaps) a little bit of superstition, Rodriguez is truly a success story in the cancer realm.