Thursday, June 21, 2018 05:36PM CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Northwest Indiana woman told she may never get pregnant again after being diagnosed with cancer is beating the odds. She says it's all thanks to the ongoing research of drug repurposing to treat diseases with no cure. In this case, she calls it a miracle drug. 印第安納州西北部的一名婦女告訴她,在被診斷患有癌症之後,她可能再也不會懷孕了。她說這一切都要歸功於一個正在老藥新用的藥物, 它被用來治療無法治癒的疾病。因此,她稱之為奇蹟藥物。
While pregnant with her first child, Karrie was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. 在懷上第一個孩子的時候,Karrie被診斷罹患罕見血癌。
"It's the whole terrifying process of being diagnosed with a cancer," said Karrie Schwartz who was diagnosed with polycythemia vera. 被診斷為血癌是一個可怕的過程, 她被診斷罹患PV。 Karrie opted not to have chemotherapy which would've ended her hopes of having another baby. The couple from Munster, Indiana, was determined to find another way. Karrie選擇不接受化療,因為這會讓她失去懷抱另一個孩子的希望。因此來自印第安納州明斯特的夫婦決心尋找另一種方式。
"This is a disease that's progressive so you don't want to leave it untreated for the better part of the year," said John Twohy, Karrie's husband. “這是一種逐漸惡化的疾病,所以你不想在狀態好的時候不治療” Karrie的丈夫John Twohy說。
Thirty miles away at Rush University Medical Center they found their answer. Dr. Jamile Shammo, a hematology specialist who knew of an alternative treatment, using the drug interferon, FDA-approved for hepatitis, off-label or repurposed. 在Rush大學醫學中心三十英里處,他們找到了答案。 Jamile Shammo博士是一位知道替代治療的血液學專家,他使用FDA批准用於肝炎的藥物-干擾素,用於仿單外使用或老藥新用。
"At that time, there was some evidence to suggest that patients who do get treated that way actually do pretty well," said Rush University Medical Center Hematologist Dr. Jamile Shammo. Rush大學醫學中心血液學家Jamile Shammo博士說:“當時有一些證據顯示,以這種方式接受治療的病患成效確實很好。
And it was safe for pregnancy... 而且這在孕婦中治療是安全的...
"They can control the symptoms, control the blood count and reduce the tumor burden," said Dr. Shammo. Shammo博士說 “這可以控制症狀,控制血液濃度並減少腫瘤負擔”。
Drug repurposing is using existing FDA-approved medicine for new or rare diseases with no cure. It's an effort supported globally by Chicago-based Cures Within Reach. 現有FDA批准老藥新用用於治療新的或無法治癒的罕見疾病。這是芝加哥相關單位Cures Within Reach的努力。
"As a philanthropic nonprofit, we're investing in these treatment opportunities where often there's not a commercial value," said Barbara Goodman of Cures Within Reach. “作為一個慈善非營利組織,我們正在投資這些往往沒有商業價值的治療機會,” Cures Within Reach組織的芭芭拉古德曼說。
About a year after being on Interferon, Karrie gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Her son now has a sibling. John is 10 and Astrid just turned seven. 在干擾素用藥約一年後,卡麗生下了一個健康的女嬰。她的兒子現在有一個兄弟姐妹。約翰10歲,阿斯特麗德剛滿7歲。 The family is grateful for what Karrie calls a miracle drug. 這家人非常感謝Karrie所說的奇蹟藥物。
"How do you thank someone for that? It's incredibly, incredibly amazing," Karrie said. "I can never repay what they've given me and my family." “你該如何表達感謝?這很令人難以置信,令人難以置信,”Karrie說。 “我永遠無法回報他們給我和我的家人所帶來的。”
Karrie is doing great. Her cancer is under control. But if it wasn't for the research, going on locally and globally, on repurposing existing drugs, she says her life would not be the same. Karrie做得很好。她的癌症得到控制。但如果不是本地和全球研究重新對老藥新用進行研究,她說她的生活不會一樣。
黃醫師在國泰醫學中心之肝臟中心擔任主治醫師十餘年,在診斷與治療肝臟疾病有豐富的臨床經驗,他亦曾任國泰醫院VIP健康管理中心副主任與臺大醫院胃腸肝膽內科兼任主治醫師。黃奕文醫師從就讀臺大醫學院臨床醫學研究所博士班即已投入干擾素用於治療 B 肝的相關研究,曾榮獲日本消化器病學會獎學金至廣島大學研究慢性B型肝炎病患接受干擾素治療的病毒分子反應,並且榮獲科技部公費留學至美國哈佛醫學院與麻省總醫院研究干擾素治療病毒性肝炎所激發的細胞內分子,對於長效型干擾素用於治療慢性B型肝炎病患富有臨床與基礎醫學的學識與實務經驗。黃醫師也充滿使命與熱忱,在Ropeg治療慢性B型肝炎的二期臨床試驗收案最多。