Bill, a former PE teacher, was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer at the young age of 54. Roughly seven years into his cancer battle with no FDA-approved treatments remaining, Bill was considering hospice and likely had only weeks to live. He commented, “I’m ready for the Good Lord to take me home”. He was wheelchair-bound and requiring around the clock pain medications. He rarely left his home except to go to doctor appointments. After long conversations regarding Bill and his wife’s wishes, he chose to consider a clinical research trial and fight one more time.

In 2018, Bill became the first patient in the world to enroll on a global clinical research trial at the Urology Cancer Center, with a novel class of medicine called a radiopharmaceutical. In 2020, nearly 3 years later Bill has no significant disease present. He is no longer in a wheelchair and is back to working out at the gym daily with no pain. He has returned to his love of kayaking. “I’m living life and every day is just like a brand-new day to me, “ said Bill.

In 2018, Vince showed up at the Urology Cancer Center from out of state for a second opinion from Dr. Nordquist regarding his recently diagnosed kidney cancer. He was suffering with pain and dropping weight. His kidney was biopsied and confirmed he did indeed have kidney cancer. His CT scans showed multiple areas of cancer in his bones also. It was assumed by his initial oncologist that he had metastatic kidney cancer that had spread to the bones and advised him to start treatment for kidney cancer.

However, during his initial visit, Dr. Nordquist found this to be an unusual presentation for kidney cancer. Although kidney cancer does spread to the bone it typically occurs after first spreading to other organs. In addition, given the small size of Vince’s kidney cancer, it was unlikely that the kidney cancer would have even spread at all. He realized Vince had not had a recent PSA blood test to screen for prostate cancer, which commonly spreads to the bone. A normal PSA value is less than 4 and Vince’s PSA was more than 5,000. What Vince actually had was a small curable kidney cancer that was treated with an outpatient freezing procedure and prostate cancer that had spread to the bone.

Although still not curable prostate cancer has a much better prognosis and patients can live much longer with appropriate treatment than they can with metastatic kidney cancer. Within less than 6 months Vince’s PSA was less than 1 and he continues to do well today without cancer symptoms.

- Vince

Eric was first diagnosed with a very aggressive form of prostate cancer in July 2008. Despite being aggressive, his cancer was thought to be confined to his prostate and potentially curable. Following curative treatment radiation, Eric, unfortunately, had a cancer recurrence and was being managed at Mayo Clinic. Although he was under the impression he had minimal treatment options remaining, he was referred to the Urology Cancer Center in 2019 to see what clinical trial options might be available. He was enrolled on a clinical research trial and nearly 2 years later he remains with minimal detectable disease and was recently able to take a trip to Hawaii.

“We arrived at Urology Cancer Center 18 months ago after a strong referral from Mayo Clinic to apply for the Lutetium-PSMA-617 Clinical Study. We were very pleased when we were accepted into the study. Dr. Luke and his team have done an exceptional job of helping us manage our care through this Clinical Study. The staff is always very friendly and helpful. We are so pleased to be a patient under Dr. Luke’s care. Because of his expert care, we have enjoyed traveling and spending more time with our grandkids in our retirement.”

In 2007, Kurt at age 53 was diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer. It had already spread throughout his bones. His cancer was discovered during routine Prostate Cancer screening with an initial PSA of over 800 (normal <4). He was confirmed to have an aggressive prostate cancer. His first oncologist told him to get his affairs in order because he only had a few years to live at most. He quickly progressed on first- and second-line therapies at which time he met with Dr. Nordquist for a second opinion.

During his visit, Dr. Nordquist discussed a promising Phase I/II clinical research trial as a potential treatment option. Kurt had limited financial resources and decided to give it a try. On the trial his treatment was given for free. This treatment controlled Kurt’s cancer for more than 4 years. His treatments have been changed several times since then as new treatments continue to evolve. Now over 13 years after his initial diagnosis, Kurt is still enjoying the outdoors and doing side projects around his house.

“I’ve been seeing Dr. Luke for over 13 years and I think I’m 10 years on borrowed time. When I was first diagnosed and first saw Dr. Luke, my PSA was over 800. I’m still here and I don’t believe I’m still here and it’s all because of Dr. Luke and the UCC team… they are the angels in my life, they are the best!”

Mary was diagnosed in 2012 with Bladder Cancer that had spread to several surrounding organs and lymph nodes. She underwent an extensive abdominal surgery in an attempt to remove the cancer which was unsuccessful. One month after surgery the cancer had spread even more. She was told by her urologist she only had months to live.

At that time Mary was referred to Dr. Nordquist for further medical management. Dr. Nordquist had recommended multiple treatment options including FDA-approved clinical trials. Mary chose a clinical trial. She had a complete response with resolution of all of her cancer. Nearly 2 years later, Mary’s cancer recurred. At that time Dr. Nordquist and Mary chose to “think outside of the box” and Mary was started on a medication that was FDA approved for other types of cancer but not yet for Mary’s Bladder Cancer. Mary was treated on this medicine for nearly 1 year with nearly no side effects. She again had complete resolution of all of her cancer. Remarkably, Mary’s last treatment is now over 6 years ago and she is living her best life without any evidence of disease.

Marion was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013. Despite having metastatic prostate cancer, he continues to do well in 2020 on medications to control his cancer. Over the course of the last several years, he has required treatments that have been extremely expensive and unaffordable. Several of those treatments had costs of over $100,000 per year. Our Patient Financial Advocacy Team at Urology Cancer Center was able to get several of these medications at no cost to Marion through utilizing foundations and relationships with pharmaceutical companies. With the assistance of our Patient Financial Advocacy Team, Marion has been able to select an appropriate plan best suited for his illness and treatments allowing him access to the necessary medications needed for his treatment while also helping Marion save money.

"In 2013, I was given three years to live. I was referred to Dr. Nordquist by my Urologist to see if there was anything left for me. He was a God send as far as I was concerned and it was one of the better decisions we made. The nursing staff and the entire staff have all made it a fun time for me and everybody has treated me like royalty. Ever since I have been with Dr. Nordquist I have worn different funny costumes at each visit to celebrate life and will continue doing so because I love seeing everyone’s reactions and smiling faces. Thanks Dr. Nordquist and team!”