David Broyles thought he was going in for a routine hernia surgery. After all what could be wrong with him? He was young, owned his own construction company, was an avid competitive mountain biker, and felt indestructible. That’s why he was shocked when, after the surgery, his doctor told him to get his affairs in order because he had mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, and only had six months to live.
PX Here Six months! To add to the stress of the situation, just a couple of weeks later, his wife found out that she was pregnant, leaving Broyles wondering if he’d even live long enough to see the birth of his daughter. Well, that was 22 years ago, and this year, Broyles, aged 55, is going to see her graduate from college. So what accounts for his remarkable recovery? His attitude and determination along with the chemotherapy treatment had a lot to do with it, but Broyles also credits an experimental drug that he received early on after his diagnosis. Here’s more on the story from Asbestos.com:
Flickr Broyles jumped directly into a clinical trial involving a combination of chemotherapy and the experimental drug ranpirnase (Onconase), which is created from an enzyme found in the Northern Leopard frog. The drug supposedly worked by speeding up the body’s ability to destroy or stop cancer cells from dividing. After each chemotherapy session, Broyles would train on his mountain bike, regardless of how bad he felt or what his oncologist suggested. He pushed himself to the limit, even winning races in the midst of a chemotherapy cycle. “I just felt the best way to deal with cancer was to punish it. I wanted to make it as uncomfortable as possible for the cancer, because it sure made me uncomfortable,” he said. “It helped me to hurt. I was just obsessed with riding after chemo.” Broyles responded so well to the clinical trial that the company making the drug started sponsoring his competitive mountain biking, promoting him as a spokesperson.
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By Walleater “They called me the wonder child. They had never had a patient so young and otherwise so healthy,” he said. “My situation was unheard of back then. It defied all logic. I guess you could say I was an anomaly.” Although the trial was later discontinued for lack of overall efficacy, Broyles believes firmly the drug saved his life. He’s thankful to be one of the lucky ones who responded so well to it. He also feasted on alternative medicines and supplements, including shark cartilage, various minerals and high doses of vitamins — often 30 pills each day. “My oncologist, he was out there, very unconventional,” Broyles said. “He was all for that stuff.” For two years, regular CT scans showed no cancer recurrence, although it returned on a smaller scale in 1998, prompting a second cytoreduction.
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Wikimedia Commons “I told them they should have put a zipper on my belly, like one of those zip lock baggies. It would have made it easier the second time,” he said. “But I went through it again, and they got it all out that time.” Broyles has experienced no recurrence since. His scans are done only every five years now. “My brother told me, ‘you got the best, worst luck I’ve ever seen,’” he said. “My mother said the hernia was God’s way of getting an early detection.” So what about this experimental drug that Broyles received? Well, it’s called Oncanase and it’s produced from an enzyme derived from the eggs of the Northern Leopard Frog, a species of frog found in the northern United States and Canada. Though it had a positive impact on Broyles’ condition, the overall trials didn’t produce enough positive effects for the FDA to give it the approval it needed in order to continue testing. That was not the case, however, with Europe and Australia.
Flickr In fact, Chinese scientists have recently achieved great results by combining Oncanase with the anti-malarial drug dihydroartemisinin (DHA). Working together, the two drugs achieved better results than oncanase alone. Let’s hope that this and other drugs will emerge to provide relief and healing for all of those suffering from mesothelioma cancer and other asbestos related diseases. As for Broyles, he’s not taking anything for granted and knows how lucky he is to have the success he’s had: “Miracles happen,” Broyles told Asbestos.com. “They happen every day in this world, small miracles and large miracles. I’m evidence. I can’t change the facts.”
