The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/643329
W I N T E R / S P R I N G U O F L M A G A Z I N E | 3 7 W I N W I N T W I N W I N T N T N T T N T N E R / S E R / R / S / S S P R I P R I R I N R I N I N P R I P N P R I P R P R P R P R P R I R G U O F F O F O F L L L M A M A G A Z I G A Z I Z I I N E | 3 7 3 It was a typical Friday evening in Morgan- ton, North Carolina, when 2-1/2-year-old Sam Rosebrock f rst felt a bellyache. He had suffered from a sore throat and few weeks, so it initially seemed to be a symptom of the antibiotics he was taking. But the next morning, after his family noticed that his abdomen was distended and the pain had increased, they immediately visited their pediatrician. The Rosebrocks were told to drive—without stopping—to Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte. The family was met at the emergency room by surgeons who quickly identif ed a tumor that they believed to be cancerous. After further testing, it was determined that Sam had Stage 4 neuroblastoma, meaning that the cancer had spread to his bone marrow. After several rounds of chemotherapy, his cancer responded and the tumor had shrunk to the point where a surgical procedure to remove it was possible. Sam endured more chemo and radiation treatments, and ultimately went into remission. Three months later, Sam relapsed. It was a diff cult phone call for the family to receive. Even though he was responding well to another round of chemo, his parents knew that Sam would likely suffer another relapse in the future. He was now considered high risk. So his family began researching clinical trials across the country that might help their son. Their oncologist recommended Ken Lucas, MD, at the University of Louisville, whose vaccination trials were experiencing positive outcomes with fewer side effects than similar trails. Lucas' work targets children whose tumors have relapsed and who have very poor prognoses. Sam was an ideal candidate. The trial's approach uses low doses of chemo- therapy before administering a cancer vaccine. This makes the cancer cells more susceptible to being killed by the patient's immune cells. To create the vaccine, cells are harvested, then geneti- cally modif ed to f ght the neuroblastoma. This protocol is unique among other pediatric cancer vaccine programs across the country. Sam's results have been very positive. His scans in October show that he is still in remission. Now this resilient, ice-cream-loving 5-year-old continues to participate in preventive trials at UofL. Sam's hope is that a cure will be discovered some day to help other kids with neuroblastoma. "We have to have people like Dr. Lucas who are willing to do awesome things like this. Hopefully, there will be a breakthrough for neuroblastoma." —Denielle Rosebrock, Sam's mother ABOVE: Dr. Lucas performs a routine exam to check Sam's progress.