Nicole Mondaca is a surviving cancer patient of gallbladder cancer. It was in its advanced stages and was told that she only had a few months before she would pass.
She is now 53 and alive 2 years later enjoying her time working with her city.
A new method of killing tumors with specific mutations has come afloat and is being tested among 500 patients; Nicole being one of them. Genetic testing is helping doctors create therapies to treat and target specific mutations.
The UW Carbone Cancer Centers team that is leading the genetic testing is funded on 1 million dollars, yet making remarkable progress with the fight against cancer.
To target the specific types of mutations found in breast cancer Nicole is taking a drug usually prescribed to fight breast cancer. Another patient is on the same drug because of the same type of mutations but his case is colon cancer.
A team from UW Health explains that it is important to focus on treatment for the genetic profiles of tumors rather than the location of it.
Another patient along Nicole has been going through the genetic targeting and found a 75% decrease in size, and his progress is going so well that Dr. Deming from UW Health wants to write a medical journal for it.
When Deming first met Nicole he was sure that she was going to die from her cancer, telling her to move up her plans to be at her sons birthday party. But she has already gone to her son’s birthdays twice.
Nicole was part of her city’s Fourth of July parade and people were cheering her on as other families followed behind her. She was asked to be the Grand Marshall of her parade and is ready to throw out candies for onlookers for the parade.
