Update on Dennis Gibson's Good Health

My oncologist walked into my examination room today, smiled big, and shook my hand. He told me that my latest scans showed no growth of my cancer in the past three months. So, it has been dormant since I started into this clinical trial with Rituxan and Torisel nine months ago. And I have had so few and mild side effects that I cannot tell I am getting cancer treatment. Now that is a marvelous kind of breakthrough!

Now I face what to do after I complete the twelve months of this trial. I prefer to be allowed to continue receiving these two medications under a category called "compassionate use," or "off-label treatment." That means getting special permission to use these drugs that are approved by the FDA for treatment of other conditions, but not yet for use on my mantle cell lymphoma. So, here is a treatment shown to be keeping me from dying, but which the FDA may take years to decide is OK for me to use. I am among thousands of cancer patients who face denial of treatments that can save their lives, simply because of an unnecessarily slow, bureaucratic process operating within the FDA.

The Life Extension Foundation has an energetic and creative initiative that I have used to contact my representatives in Congress by e-mail to modernize FDA policies toward greater flexibility with emerging new technologies. Any of you readers who are inclined to join such a grass roots petition can do so easily by going to this web site: http://www.lef.org/lac . And thank you for the spiritual energy that you pump into me by your good praying.