Marlo Renee, 58, is a life-long resident of Sacaton, south of Phoenix. She is a member of the Gila River Indian Community where, before retiring, she worked for more than 35 years as a teacher and as a social worker, specializing in helping disadvantaged children.
Around Thanksgiving 2024, Marlo hadn’t felt well. She eventually went to a hospital where tests showed she had cancer of the gallbladder; a small pear-shaped organ located between the liver and intestines. It generates bile, a fluid that help digest fats.
Gallbladder cancer is a rare malignancy, annually affecting about 12,000 Americans, resulting in nearly 4,500 deaths. The exact cause is not fully understood, but this type of cancer is survivable if, as in Marlo’s case, it is caught early. Her gallbladder was surgically removed, though the cancer had already metastasized, or spread, to her liver.
Over the next several months, she was treated with different conventional chemotherapies, but none of them worked. They were going to try another, but Marlo said, “No more.”
Clinical trials recommended
Instead, her doctors recommended that she seek advanced treatment though a clinical trial at HonorHealth Research Institute.
Last summer, Marlo met with Dr. Erkut Borazanci, medical director of the Research Institute’s Oncology Research Division, who she said explained that their targeted drug, WTX-330, was an immunotherapy, meaning it worked with her own immune system to fight the cancer, and in all likelihood with minimal side effects.
Plus, unlike the conventional chemotherapies that required 3-4 hours of infusion, the Institute’s clinical trial drug could be infused in only about 15 minutes. She has received infusions of the new drug every two weeks since her sessions began in August last year.
“It worked! I came here with my tumor markers (scores) in the 300s, and the lowest I’ve seen it while on this medication is 17,” Marlo said. “The medication proved to be effective. The tumors are shrinking.”
Recently, a lesion on her liver began growing, but that was quickly countered through a weeklong, daily treatment regimen with a new type of radiation therapy.
Looking to the future
Through her community’s Gila River Health Care, Marlo regularly attends meetings, learning new things and staying socially connected.
“I want to continue to be active with the elders in the community,” she said, adding she enjoys alternative therapies such as acupuncture, massages, and chiropractic sessions, which she credits for improving her overall wellbeing.
Marlo hopes that through her treatments at HonorHealth she will continue to improve until there is no detectable cancer.
Today, Marlo describes her condition as great, crediting Dr. Borazanci and the Institute staff.
“Dr. ‘B’ is the best! He’s been very instrumental in improving my health,” she said. “And the staff at HonorHealth treat you with human compassion and understanding.”
