health

Never
Give Up

Man with multiple cancers finds hope in a
clinical trial at Karmanos Cancer Institute.

ELIZABETH KATZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

ABOVE: Karmanos Nurse Practitioner
MaryAnn Schwartz goes over a
medical file with cancer patient Marc
Rosenzweig of West Bloomfield.

For more information
about participating in a
clinical trial at Karmanos
Cancer Institute or
supportive services
offered at the institute,
call 1-800-KARMANOS
(800-527-6266) or visit
karmanos.org.

88

March 29 • 2018

jn

M

arc Rosenzweig, 51, is a
testament to the human
will to survive, coupled
with a sense of hope and desire to
endure in the face of adversity.
Rosenzweig of West Bloomfield
was diagnosed with Stage 3B
Hodgkin’s lymphoma in October
2012 at age 46. He underwent two
types of aggressive chemotherapy
and had a CT scan done every three
months to monitor his condition.
During one of those CT scans in
December 2013, radiologists found
a mass in his lung. It turned out to
be Stage 4 non-small cell lung can-

cer, a genetic form of the disease.
“I never smoked before and I
didn’t really know much about it,”
Rosenzweig said.
What followed were various
rounds of targeted chemotherapy
that would last eight months or 12
months or even 16 months.
During an MRI in January 2016,
Rosenzweig was diagnosed with a
brain tumor his doctors described
as “inoperable.” He underwent radi-
ation and experienced troublesome
side effects, including necrosis,
which affected his ability to walk.
It was then that his doctors, who
considered having him enter pal-
liative care, referred him to the
Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer
Institute for a second opinion.
Karmanos doctors advised him to
stay on chemotherapy and then
Sandeep Mittal, M.D., leader of the
Neuro-Oncology Multidisciplinary
Team at Karmanos, looked at his
MRI scans and said he could do the
surgery on his brain.
“I said, ‘What do I have to lose?’”
Rosenzweig added.
He underwent Gamma Knife
radiosurgery at Karmanos and
stayed on chemotherapy until he
could no longer tolerate it. The
next type of chemotherapy lasted
for four months and then stopped
working.
“I was just holding out,”
Rosenzweig said. “There was no
drug left for me.”
And yet, at the beginning of 2017,
he learned about a new option — a
Phase II clinical trial at Karmanos
offering a promising new drug
being tested. Rosenzweig now takes
the oral chemotherapy drug and
comes to Karmanos every 21 days
for check-ups.
“For me, the only way I get
through this is with humor,” he said.
“I’m doing well. Every day is a bless-
ing. You have to have the ‘want’ to
live. There has to be a reason to
live.”
Rosenzweig says that his family,
especially his mom, Judy, has been
an important source of support,
as well as his girlfriend, Carolyn,
whom he began dating last fall.

He also has two sons, Jacob, 24, a
mortgage banker, and Sammy, 21, a
graphic design student at Columbia
College in Chicago. Additionally,
he relies on his many friends and
also comes to the Men’s Networking
Group at Karmanos’ Weisberg
Cancer Treatment Center in
Farmington Hills.
He added that Karmanos’ support
and the fact that he could go on a
clinical trial have allowed him to
“stay in the race,” as he describes it.
Lisa Lange, ANP-BC, AOCN, adult
nurse practitioner and vice presi-
dent of the Clinical Trials Office at
Karmanos, says that every eligible
patient who comes to Karmanos is
offered the chance to participate
in a clinical trial. These clinical tri-
als provide as good, if not better,
care than standard cancer thera-
pies. Patients who also take part in
clinical trials help pave the way for
many new and more effective can-
cer treatments.
“Clinical trials give patients
access to state-of-the-art cancer
treatments,” Lange says. “We have
a very large program with more
than 800 clinical trials and scientific
investigations taking place right
now. Patients in trials receive the
latest treatments and are under
very close observation for safety.
Trials help improve survival rates
for future patients.”
Rosenzweig, who worked in com-
mercial development and property
management up until his brain
surgery in 2016, said his main job is
to keep himself alive and to appreci-
ate the memories that he can make
right here, right now.
“There is hope. Attitude is every-
thing,” he said. “When you have
cancer, it changes your perspec-
tive. You can be angry or you can
embrace life. You can also be a
teacher to others. Cancer doesn’t
give you a free pass to cash it in.
The only thing I can control is my
attitude and the love that I give to
others.” •

Elizabeth Katz is the former external marketing
and communications manager at Karmanos
Cancer Institute.

