Testimonials

Quindino Quintiliani

(Lung Cancer)

Never Too Old for the Right Cancer Therapy

At 92 years of age, Quindino Quintiliani thought he had beat the odds, surviving to his 90s without having to confront a cancer diagnosis. Not quite. A bout with pneumonia in March 2009 led to a diagnosis of inoperable, metastatic lung cancer. His cardiologist requested consultation with Dr. Robert Nagourney, medical director of Rational Therapeutics, a developmental cancer program in Long Beach, CA.

“I must admit, I didn’t expect to be offering a 92-year-old patient chemotherapy and expected instead to be providing information on supportive care and hospice,” said Dr. Nagourney. Yet this spry nonagenarian with a hint of an Italian accent and a twinkle in his eye, urged the doctor to “not give up on me.”

“We agreed that if I could identify a mild therapy with a good chance of helping, we’d begin treatment,” Dr. Nagourney explained.

To accomplish this goal, Dr. Nagourney used his laboratory to study cancer cells isolated from fluid around Quindino’s lung, an approach shown to double the likelihood of response to chemotherapy in lung cancer (Proc. Amer. Soc Clin. Oncol., 2009). The lab results clearly showed that the combination of Carboplatin and Gemcitabine was exactly right for Quindino’s cancer while virtually none of the other lung cancer treatments revealed the ability to kill his cancerous cells.

Treatment started immediately.

“My breathing improved and I felt sure it was working, but the doctor couldn’t prove that until the x-ray was repeated,” said Quindino. When the new scans were compared with the originals, the radiologist was so impressed that he personally called Dr. Nagourney to say that they showed marked “interval regression of the patient’s metastatic lung carcinoma.” This was a significant improvement, despite very few of the side effects usually associated with chemotherapy.

“Every patient’s good outcome is worth celebrating, but Quindino’s excellent response is particularly gratifying. Had we withheld therapy due to his age or used the off-the-shelf standard therapies, I doubt Mr. Quintiliani would be alive today,” said Dr. Nagourney.

Noteworthy, Mr. Quintiliani has received all of his therapy as an outpatient and hasn’t required the costly supportive measures, like growth factors, so common in cancer therapy. His care was comparatively inexpensive. “Despite his age, Quindino teaches us that even in an era of cost containment, good medical care can be highly cost-effective,” Dr. Nagourney added. Quindino and his grateful family are certainly in agreement.

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the US, with over 215,000 new cases and 161, 000 deaths for this diagnosis in 2008. Standard therapy provides responses in less than one-third of patients, often at significant toxicity and expense. Rational Therapeutics is a pioneering cancer therapy program that specializes in personalized cancer care based upon the laboratory analysis of each individual patient’s tumor. Lung cancer is one of its most active areas of research.