Florida Cancer Specialists uses drug trials to treat breast cancer patients

A Southwest Florida woman credits her survival in the fight against breast cancer to an experimental drug.

Even while the odds often seemed against her, Tarshia Rivera is a fighter. In August of 2014, she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. Rivera was enrolled in a clinical trial for breast cancer.

“I had a rash on my breast, my left breast and you know, I just thought, you know, it was a little red. So I got over-the-counter products and tried to, you know, treat it but as time went on, it got bigger and then I felt a lump,” said Rivera.

Dr. Frank Rodriguez, an oncologist at Florida Cancer Specialists, treated Rivera.

“She’s an amazing human being. And, and it was very discouraging too, to give her treatment and see the disease, relentless, relentless lip, press ahead,” said Rodriguez.

After undergoing first a single, then a double mastectomy along with chemotherapy, the disease was determined to persist. But so was Rivera. She had children to live for.

“Every time I went through one treatment. It worked. And then it was stopped working. I would keep trying, no matter what it was,” said Rivera.

The cancer barely slowed down, spreading to her lymph nodes. Fueled by faith, she was offered access to an experimental drug.

“We were able to find a clinical trial that was in early stages of development, and she kind of just hit a home run with it. The particular mutation that she had, was incredibly sensitive to this medicine,” said Rodriguez.

Being a research and treatment center, Florida Cancer Specialists has FDA oversight to a work with a broad range of drugs. Most are in the second or third phase of approval. It opens options for their patients while these therapies are evaluated for wider use.

The drug Rivera took is an immunotherapy combination developed by Evelo Biosciences, which is still being studied. It is one of many drugs with great promise.

“Every day, I have patients who are on new medicines, and their lives and how they interact with their disease is changed forever. I find it to be very uplifting. When I’m able to sit in front of someone and tell them you know, five years ago, this wouldn’t be possible,” said Rodriguez.

Nearly eight years after her diagnosis, Rivera is cancer-free.

“I’m a living testament of how these clinical trials, they do work, you know, you might have one or two that might not work, but just don’t give up,” said Rivera.

The point of this particular drug study is to determine the proper patient who would benefit, and the dosage. Doctors say that is the key component in this new age of cancer treatment.